Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Chapter 1: Introductory, 1912 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 1: Introductory

There are singular remains of antiquity throughout America, universally conceded to be the work of a prehistoric race, commonly called the Mound Builders. That these works owe their origin to a people more intimately ac¬ quainted with the arts of life than the aboriginal tribes which inhabited the con¬ tinent upon its discovery, is abundantly proved by these records which are found scattered throughout the entire length and breadth of our land. The at¬ tention of archaeologists is being more and more directed to a study of these peculiar evidences of a vanished half civilization, but as yet neither their ori¬ gin nor the date of their inhabitance has been determined. Such traces as are left, though abundant in quantity, are vague as to character, no written memo¬ randa having come to light, nor hieroglyph whose key can unlock the mystery. The remains consist chiefly of mounds of earth, which, notwithstanding the leveling and wearing action of the elements, have kept the form into which those mythical hands molded them. Hence, the name of Mound Builders. In these mounds are found the traces of such useful arts as place beyond peradventure the users of them higher in the scale of progression than the savages who succeeded them. These mounds and enclosures are various in form, and it is supposed that they were dedicated to uses as various. Some are believed to have been fortifications ; others, places of sepulcher and of sacrifice, while some were the sites of temples, and others observatories. The ground selected for their erection seems generally to have been an elevated plateau on the banks of either lake or river, and the builders were apparently influenced by the same considerations as govern men in modern times in the choice of places for set¬ tlement. It is a fact that many of our most opulent cities are built upon the sites of these ancient works, proving that those by-gone races availed them¬ selves of the same natural advantages as we do of today. These earth works are by no means of uniform shape or size. Some are regularly arranged, form¬ ing squares, circles and octagons, others are like walls or fortifications, while others (and these are more numerous in Wisconsin than elsewhere, and first noticed in this state) are in imitation of the shapes of animals, birds, beasts and fishes - and in the forms of trees, war clubs, tobacco pipes, and other sig¬ nificant implements of race. It is not an improbable supposition that these curious figures were intended to represent a badge of tribe - a sort of gigantic armorial device on a scale commensurate with the vastness of the territory in¬ habited. In all existing nations symbols are employed as an expression of na¬ tional individuality, and are deeply cherished by the people. England has her lion, France her eagles and her fleur-de-lis, Scotland her thistle, and amongst our present North American tribes we have such titles as Sitting Bull, Driving Cloud and Black Hawk. So these mounds may have been shaped to represent tribal or family insignia, and were possibly dedicated to the burial of members of the special clans who reared them. These animal shaped mounds, equally with the round tumuli, contain human bones. These bones are in a very brittle and decomposed state, having roots and fibres growing through them, and are distributed equally through all parts of the mounds. In the construction of these monuments it is evident that the bodies were laid upon the surface of the ground and the earth heaped upon them. No appearances are to be found of graves having been dug below the surface. In many cases later burials have been made upon these mounds, where possibly some nomadic tribe made a grave for its dead above the long buried and almost forgotten race. This sur¬ face burial, in which earth was brought and heaped above the dead, was not the custom among the North American Indians, their mode being a shallow grave, or suspension on platforms, or in trees, and this is counted another proof of the non-identity of the Mound Builders with the people that followed them.

In some parts of the state are found earth works of a different character from the mound proper, which from their supposed use, are styled "garden beds." These beds are methodically arranged in parallel rows, much as a gar¬ dener would lay out his ground for flower culture, and are of a variety of sizes and shapes, sometimes occupying acres in extent.

These mounds are not the only traces of the lost inhabitants. The copper mines of northern Michigan afford ample proofs of their having been worked at some previous period, and as implements of this metal are abundant among other vestiges of the Mound Builders, they were, without doubt, the prehistoric miners. Professor Irving believes that, as the Michigan copper belt extends across Wisconsin to Minnesota, copper must have also been mined in this state. The Jesuit fathers frequently mention the existence of copper, and even use the term mines, though there is no evidence that they either saw or heard of actual mining in the technical sense of that word. As early as 1636, which was prior to the time when they themselves had visited the Great Lake, they speak of the presence of native copper, and of its having been taken from the mines. In the "Relations" for 1659-60, after missions had been established in this region, they reported it to be "enriched in all its borders by mines of lead, almost pure, and of copper all refined in pieces as large as the first, and great rocks which have whole veins of turquoise." Professor Whittlesey says, in a paper to the Smithsonian Institution, that there are evidences that these ancient mines were abandoned several hundred years before the advent of the French into that re¬ gion, and their acquaintance with the northern tribes. As there is no legend among the Indians of their ancestors having worked the mines, nor any imple¬ ments in their possession that could have been used for that purpose, it is highly improbable that they could have been the original workers. In ancient mining pits have been found wooden shovels, fragments of wooden bowls and broken stone mauls. The effects of blows from these stone mauls are visible upon the rocks. In other places are the distinct marks of picks and drills, as fresh and perfect as if they had been recently made. Coals and ashes are also found in the old excavations, along with the remnants of tools used, and in some cases the scales of fishes, evidently the remains of miners' meals.

It appears that these people were supplied only with very simple mechanical contrivances, and that they penetrated the earth only to a short distance, their deepest works being only about the same as those of , old tin mines of Cornwall, England, which were wrought before the conquest of Britain by the Romans.

Dr. Hoy, president of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, finds upon examination of the implements made out of copper by these people, that they were beaten or hammered into the required shape, not melted and molded. In a large majority of cases he found specks of pure silver scattered over their surfaces, which he counted as evidence positive that the specimen was never melted. Their fibrous texture was another proof that they were ham¬ mered or beaten out. Professor James D. Butler, however, appeals from this conclusion, and believes the people knew the art of smelting, "though the man¬ ner may be past finding out." He claims that as a rule the articles they manu¬ factured were of utility rather than of ornament, and that he has found evi¬ dences of melted metal in their construction. The discussion is of interest only as going to prove a greater or less degree of advancement among these workers in the appliances of labor. If smelting was practiced, more complicated inge¬ nuity was evinced than if only the rude hammer was used.

We have scarcely learned the alphabet of this strange language written all over the surface of our country. Thus far in the study of the subject of the Mound Builders little more seems demonstrated than the ancient occupation of the territory by a semi-savage race. No trace of high art or of refined civiliza¬ tion piques the antiquarian or stimulates the imagination of the student with visions of valuable discoveries yet to be made. The chief interest lies in solv¬ ing the mystery of the utter disappearance of a race, which has so entirely dropped out of human annals as scarcely to live even in legend. We only know that a people lived, were numerous, industrious and widely established, but whence they came or whither they vanished is mere conjecture. Their names were not "writ in water," but in the earth. The turf of the prairie, the margin of the river, the cleft in the rock testify to their having been. But whether defi¬ nite history, can be written from such memoranda must rest with the future archaeologist.

The Indian Tribes Of Wisconsin

The obscurity which enshrouds the history of the aborigines of the north¬ west prior to 1634, continues the gradation of human occupation of the soil, from the impenetrable mystery of the Mound Builders to the era of letters. But little is known of the lives and habits of the savage nations inhabiting what is now' Wisconsin, before their discovery by civilized man. The sparse knowledge which has come down to us, of those years of warfare, during which the untutored brave contested with his brother for the right of existence, or of the milder and infrequent periods of peace, wherein were enjoyed rude arts and tender passions, have but a basis of tradition on which to stand; and as a sub¬ ject invested with romantic hues, because so far removed from the stern glade of historic fact, form a gracious topic for the pen of fiction rather than the pen of history.

It is the purpose of this work to treat but briefly of those divisions of the In¬ dian nations which fill merely an auxiliary or preliminary station in the record of Wisconsin tribes.

The country bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by Lake Michigan, on the south by wide spreading prairies, and on the west by the Mis¬ sissippi, was first seen by a European in the year 1634. Jean Nicolet then dis¬ covered that upon this wide area met and, with measureable peacefulness mingled two far-reaching families - the Algonquins and Dakotas. The excep¬ tion to the rule of hostility was the Winnebago tribe, which, although belonging to the Dakotas or Sioux, were peaceful toward the Algonquins. Parkman says: "A detached branch of the Dakota stock, the Winnebago, was established south of Green Bay, on Lake Michigan, in the midst of the Algonquins." Tradition points to the former as having, at some distant period of the past, migrated from the east - and this has been confirmed by a study of their language; to the latter as coming from the west or southwest, fighting their way as they came. As yet there were no representatives of the Huron-Iroquois seen west of Lake Michigan, that great family then dwelling northward and southward of Erie and Ontario lakes.

Of the Algonquins, the principal branches were the Chippeways, Menomonees, Pottawatomies, Mascoutins, Miamis, Kickapoos and Illinois (the latter to the southward) ; of the Dakotas but two divisions were in Wisconsin, the Winnebagoes and a few bands of chance Sioux.

Already had the French secured a foothold in the valley of the St. Law¬ rence ; and, naturally enough, the broad expanse of water to the westward of¬ fered an irresistible inducement to the explorer. Thus it was that the shores of Green Bay were visited in 1634, by Jean Nicolet, who beheld, upon the right in ascending the bay, a tribe of Indians, lighter in complexion than their neigh¬ bors, remarkably well formed and active. These were what are now known as the Menomonees. Although of the Algonquin stock, their dialect differed so much from the surrounding tribes that for a long time they were accredited with a distinct language. Their homes and hunting grounds were on the Menomo¬ nee river, though within the period of a century they shifted somewhat, and without infringing upon the territory of other tribes, spread out to the west¬ ward and southward, their principal village at that time being at the head of Green Bay. In 1634 they took part in a treaty with some representatives of the French, who at this time were intent upon the occupation of this wild region. After this, twenty years elapsed before there is any record that they were again visited by white men.

Early in December, 1669, Father Claudius Allouez visited the mouth of Green Bay, and on the third of that month celebrated Holy Mass for the first time in his new field of labor. In May of the following year, he reached the Menomo- nees, who were then a feeble tribe, suffering from disasters in war, and nearly exterminated. He did not remain long with them, and was succeeded by Father Louis Andre, who built a cabin upon the Menomonee river. This hut the sav¬ ages burned, and he was afterwards obliged to live in his canoe. He was not wholly unsuccessful in his missionary work, for, in 1673, Father Marquette found good Christians among this tribe. By degrees they extended their inter¬ course with the white fur traders, and gradually were drawn under the banner of France. They joined that government in its war with the Iroquois, and subsequently in its conflict with the English.

In 1760 the French post at Green Bay was surrendered to the British, though the latter did not take possession until the autumn of the following year. The land upon which the fort stood was claimed by the Menomonees. Their principal village was located there, though a lesser one was at the mouth of the Menomonee river. They did not revel at the occupancy of the British, possibly for the reason that they were in a reduced state, having lost three hundred of their warriors by smallpox, and many of their chiefs in the late war in which the French commander had engaged them against the British. Moreover, they found an advantage in dealing with British fur traders, as they could purchase supplies of them for half the prices they had paid the French. Their good faith to their new allegiance was soon put to the test, as Pontiac's war broke out in 1763, and the post of Mackinaw was captured. This, instead of inciting them to a revolt against their new rulers, gave them the opportunity to prove their integrity, for they, with other tribes, escorted the garrison at Green Bay across Lake Michigan, to the village of L'Arbre Croche, on their way to Mon¬ treal. Their alliance with the British continued through their first war with the American colonies, and through the later contest of 1812-15. But, as they had yielded peaceably to the British after their conquest over the French, so when the American force arrived at Green Bay to take possession of the country, they greeted the commander as "my brother." At this time their territory had become greatly extended. It was bounded on the north by the dividing ridge between the waters flowing into Lake Superior and those flowing south into Green Bay and the Mississippi ; on the east by Lake Michigan ; on the south by the Milwaukee river, and on the west by the Mississippi and Black rivers. This was their territory, though they were practically restricted to the occupation of the western shore of Lake Michigan, lying between the mouth of Green Bay on the north and the Milwaukee river on the south, and to a somewhat indefinite area west. Their general claim, as late as 1825, was north to the Chippewa country ; east to Green Bay and Lake Michigan ; south to the Milwaukee river ; and west to Black river. This tribe, which in 1761 had been feeble and de¬ pleted, had now, in less than three-quarters of a century, become a powerful nation, numbering between three and four thousand. As late as 1831 the Me¬ nomonee territory preserved its large proportions ; but in that year it was shorn of a great and valuable part by the tribe ceding to the United States all the eastern division, estimated at two and a half million acres. The following year they aided the general government in the Black Hawk war. In order that the Menomonees might become more established, they were assigned as a perma¬ nent home a large tract of land lying north of Fox river and east of Wolf river, with a reservation of their territory west for hunting grounds, until such time as the general government should desire to purchase it.

In 183(1, another portion, amounting to four million acres, lying between Green l*ay on the east and Wolf river on the west, was disposed of to the l nited States, besides a strip three miles in width from near the portage north, on each side of the Wisconsin river, and forty-eight miles long, still leaving them in peaceful possession of a country about one hundred and twenty miles long and eighty broad.

Finally, in 1S48, the government purchased all the remaining lands of the Menomonees, preparatory to their migration to a reservation beyond the Mis¬ sissippi of six thousand acres. This latter tract, however, was receded to the United States, for, notwithstanding there were treaty stipulations for the re¬ moval of the tribe to that tract, there were such obstacles in the way that they were finally permitted to remain in Wisconsin. Lands to the amount of twelve townships were granted them for permanent homes on the Upper Wolf river, in what is now Shawano and Oconto counties - a very small portion only of their once vast possessions. They removed to this reservation in 1852. Thus are the Menomonees the only one of the original tribes, which, as a whole, has a local habitation within its limits. This tribe refused to join the Sioux in their outbreak in 1861, and several of their warriors served as volunteers in the United States army in the late Civil war.

The Winnebagoes, or "Men of the Sea," as the name signifies, were first visited in 1634, at which period their villages were upon the head waters of ( ireen Bay. They were one of the tribes belonging to the family of the Da¬ kotas, and had come hither from the westward, but whether from the Pacific, as their name might indicate, is not known. Their ancient seat was Winnebago lake, whither they afterward removed up the Fox river. Their country in¬ cluded not only this lake but all the streams flowing into it, especially the Fox river, and was subsequently extended to the Wisconsin and Rock rivers. They were brought under the influence of the Jesuit missionaries, who, in 1670, found them worshiping idols. At the commencement of the eighteenth century the Winnebagoes were finally allied to the French and in peace with the dreaded Iroquois. In 1718 the nation numbered six hundred. They subsequently joined the French against the Iroquois, and also aided them in their conflict with the British. But with the British possession of the post at Green Bay they allied themselves with their conquerors and kept up this friendship through the revo¬ lution and the War of 1812. At this period they were estimated to number 4,500 and were counted a bold and warlike people. When the United States took possession of the post of Green Bay in 1816, they apprehended trouble with the Winnebagoes, but after a single remonstrance with the commandant, they submitted to the new order of things and afterward made a treaty of peace. In 1820 they had five villages on Winnebago lake and fourteen on Rock river. Five years later their claim to territory was an extensive one. Its southeast boundary stretched away from the source of Rock river to within forty miles of its mouth, in the state of Illinois, where they had a village. On the west it extended to the heads of the small streams flowing into the Missis¬ sippi. To the northward it reached Black river and the Upper Wisconsin, but did not cross Fox river, although they contended for the whole of Winnebago lake. In 1829 a large part of their territory, in what is now southwestern Wis¬ consin, was sold to the United States. In 1837 they ceded to the general gov- ernment all their lands east of the Mississippi. Considerable difficulty was ex¬ perienced in removing them beyond the Mississippi and they have several times changed their place of abode. Their numbers have greatly diminished.

The Chippeways, by reason of their numerousness and the immensity of the area embraced within the limits of their recognized territory, as well as by the continuance of their distinctive tribal relations, form one of the leading divisions of Wisconsin. Their country included all now known as northern Wisconsin, except the Menomonee country on the east, or the present counties of Door, Ke¬ waunee and a portion of Brown. Besides this vast region the tribe was ac¬ corded the lands north of Lake Superior. The name is commonly written and spoken "Chippeway," but the best authorities now agree that the correct spell¬ ing is Otchipwe. The name is employed interchangeably with O jib way. The French also spoke of them as Sauteux, from the fact that the earliest encounter with them was at Sault Ste. Marie. This name is still applied to them by the Canadians. In 1642 Fathers Jogues and Raymbaut began a mission at Sault Ste. Marie, where there were 2,000 Chippeways. In character this tribe is de¬ scribed brave in war, expert in hunting, fond of adventure, and averse to agri¬ cultural labor. From remote times their contests with rival tribes are noted. They warred with the Foxes, the Sioux and the Iroquois, driving the Sioux from the upper regions of the Mississippi and the Red river of the north. Their style of fighting shows that they were more used to wooded countries than to the plains, as they were oftener victorious when forcing their foes to battle among forests, than when meeting them on prairies. Their numbers were greatly reduced by war, during the half century succeeding the establishment of missions in 1642. They were devoted to the French down to the time of the end of French domination. During the American war for independence they were under British influence, but made peace by the treaties of Fort McIntosh, in 1785, and Fort Harmar in 1789. So far as their policies affect the history of northern Wisconsin, the reader is referred to the article entitled The Public Domain, given later on in this work. Therein will be found mention of such treaties with the Chippeways and other tribes as are required to complete the chain of title in the government to the lands of the state.

The Sacs and Foxes are one of the tribes of the Algonquin family. Father Allouez found a village of them in 1665, upon the shores of Green Bay, and early in 1670 he visited a village of them located upon the Fox river about four leagues from its mouth. Upon his first visit he described them as of wander¬ ing habit, great in numbers and fierce and savage beyond all other tribes. Polyg¬ amy was common amongst them, and the women and children were very nu¬ merous. The Foxes were of two stocks - the Outagamies or Foxes, and the Musquakink, or men of red clay. They were supposed to have come from as far east as the St. Lawrence, and to have been driven from time to time, first to near Detroit, then to Saginaw (a name derived from the Sacs), and then by .the Iroquois to Green Bay and thence up the Fox river. Allouez established among these his mission of St. Mark and in two years rejoiced, in the baptism of sixty children and some adults. In 1684 the Sacs sent out warriors against the Five Nations but they soon became hostile to the French. They afterward became reconciled but this reconciliation was of short duration and their ill will to¬ ward the French continued. The consequence of this spirit of enmity was that in 171O their territory was invaded and they were forced to sue for peace. This :onipulsory friendship lasted but a short time. The Foxes numbered five hun¬ dred men. with an abundance of women and children. They were industrious, and raised large crops of Indian corn. In 1728 the French sent a second ex¬ pedition against them and the Menomonees and Winnebagoes, destroying wig¬ wams and fields. They were attacked for a third time in 1730 and defeated, and again in 1734 by the same foe. against whom in this last attack they were more successful than formerly. In 1736 the Sacs were connected with the govern¬ ment of Canada, though at heart far from brotherly in feeling to the French. In 1754 came the struggle between France and Great Britain, and the Sacs and l oxes allied themselves with their former foe and conqueror against the Eng¬ lish but were forced into subjection to the new victor. In 1761 the two nations, about equally divided, numbered about seven hundred warriors. The Sacs mi¬ grated to the westward but the Foxes, or a portion of them, still remained upon the waters of the box river. During the Revolutionary war the Sacs and Foxes adhered to the English. At the commencement of this century what territory remained to them in Wisconsin was in the extreme southwestern part of the state. This they ceded to the United States in 1804. From that date these allied tribes cannot be considered as belonging to the state of Wisconsin. An episode in their subsequent history comes in, however, incidentally in the annals of the state, and that is the Black Hawk war.

The Pottawatomies were neighbors to the Winnebagoes upon Green Bay in 1639. Thirty years later they were still upon its southern shore in two villages, and ten years subsequent to that they occupied at least one village in the same region. L^pon the expiration of the first quarter of the eighteenth century a part only of this nation was in that vicinity, upon the islands at the mouth of the bay. These islands were then known as the Pottawatomie Islands, and con¬ sidered as the ancient abode of these Indians. This tribe had scattered to the southward, one band on the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, and the other near Detroit. The Pottawatomies did not keep themselves distinct as a tribe but fraternized with various other tribes. These "united tribes" as they were called, claimed all the lands of their respective tribes and of other nations, and gave the l nited States no little trouble when possession was taken by the general govern¬ ment. Finally, by a treaty in 1833, their claims, such as they were, to the lands along the western shore of Lake Michigan, within the present state of Wis¬ consin, extending westward to Rock river, were purchased by the United States, with permission to retain possession of their ceded lands for three years longer, after which time this united nation of Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawatomies began to disappear and soon were no longer seen in the state.

Besides the five tribes - Menomonees, Winnebagoes, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes and Pottawatomies - many others, whole or in part, have, since the terri¬ tory now constituting the state was first visited by white men, been occupants of its territory. Of these some are only known as having once lived in what is now YV isconsin ; others, such as the Hurons, Illinois, Kickapoos, Mascoutins, Miamis, Noquets, Ottawas and Sioux are recognized as Indians once dwell¬ ing in this region. Yet, so transitory was their occupation, or so little is known of them, that they can scarcely be claimed as belonging in the state. Commenc¬ ing in 1822, and continuing at intervals through some of the following years, was the migration to Wisconsin from the state of New York of the remains of portions of four tribes : the Oneidas, Stockbridges, Munsees and Brothertowns. The Oneidas finally located west of Green Bay, where they still reside. Their reservation contained over sixty thousand acres, and was wholly within the present counties of Brown and Outagamie. The tribe obtained a fee simple to the land in 1907 and much of it has been sold to the whites. The Stockbridges and Munsees, who first located above Green Bay, on the east side of Fox river, afterward moved to the east side of Winnebago lake. They now occupy a reservation joining the southwest township of the Menomonee reser¬ vation, in Shawano county. The Brothertowns first located on the east side of Fox river, but subsequently moved to the east side of Winnebago lake, where, in 1839, they broke up their tribal relations and became citizens of Wisconsin Territory.

To Jean Nicolet belongs the honor of the first place in the history of Wiscon¬ sin. Nor is that honor due from mere accidental events, as is so often the case in the discovery of new countries ; for it was now by the deliberate accomplish¬ ment of a laborious and dangerous undertaking, whose purpose was, so far as evidence can now be adduced, substantially achieved. The sparse records of the life of this man contain but the barest outlines of his earlier days, though fu¬ ture research among original documents, it is to be hoped, will shed more light on the obscured details. It is known that he was of French nativity, born in Normandy, and that he emigrated to Canada in the year 1618, being a portage of Champlain. The date of his birth is not preserved in any document extant. Upon his arrival in New France, he at once took up his residence at Allumettes Island, on the Ottawa, that he might the better study the Indian tongue and thereby fit himself for the office of interpreter. In 1622, but four years afer his arrival, he is mentioned as having acquired an extensive influence over the Al¬ gonquin tribes. From 1623 to 1631, Nicolet lived with the tribes of the Nipissing. This is stated on the authority of his friend, Father Le Jeune, although other of the "Jesuit Relations" record that the period of his residence with the Nipissing tribes was from 1629 to 1632.

It is determined by those who have made a special study of the subject, that Nicolet came to Green Bay in the summer of 1634, and returned to Quebec in 1635. Parkman observes that Nicolet was a remarkable man, and so he must have been, to win the confidence of the savage tribes to that degree which en¬ abled him to penetrate into the remote regions of their homes and there conduct a peaceful enterprise with the warlike Winnebagoes, for the advancement of commerce in fur and peltry.

The long journey from Quebec was undertaken at the suggestion of Cham¬ plain, and in the official capacity of interpreter of the Company of One Hundred Associates of New France, which was formed in 1627, with a view to the de¬ velopment of the immense resources of the western wilderness in furs. The mission of Nicolet was not to establish peace, as distinguished from warfare, be¬ tween the Hurons and Winnebagoes, but was rather a mission of peace, to ce¬ ment the friendly relations of these tribes, as well as the Nez Perces or Ottawas, and other tribes, in the general interest of the French.

Nicolet visited the Hurons while on his westward journey, at their home on the eastern side of the lake which bears their name, and negotiated with them. It is recorded by Parkman that upon his arrival in Green Bay, at "Winnebago Town, he sent some of his Indian attendants to announce his coming, put on a robe of damask, and advanced to meet the expectant crowd with a pistol in each hand. The squaws and children tied, screaming that it was a manito, or spirit, armed with thunder and lightning, but the chiefs and warriors regaled him with so bountiful a hospitality that one hundred and twenty beavers were devoured at a single feast/' With such a dramatic display was the white man introduced upon the soil of the great commonwealth of Wisconsin.

I'he Jesuit Paul le Jeune, writing in 1640, said: "Upon the borders of Green Bay are the Menomonees ; still further on, the Winnebagoes, a sedentary people and very numerous. Some Frenchmen call them the 'Nation of the Stinkards/ because the Winnebago word 'winipeg' signifies 'stinking water.' Now they thus call the water of the sea, therefore these people call themselves Winne¬ bagoes, because they came from the shores of a sea of which we have no knowledge. Consequently, we must not call them the 'Nation of the Stinkard,' but the 'Nation of the Sea/ "

It is asserted by several writers that Nicolet continued his journey down the Wisconsin river to a point "within three days' journey of the Mississippi;" but this statement is shown, by the monograph referred to, to be an impossibility. It is therein given as historic fact that the renewed journey extended up the Fox river, to within three days' voyage of the Wisconsin, where it is supposed he found the Mascoutins. This correction is one of the most valuable that has been made by Professor Butterfield. After returning to Green Bay, Nicolet visited many of the surrounding nations. He retraced his way to the St. Law-, rence in the summer of 1635, reaching Quebec in safety. The parish records of that city furnish the information that this brave man was occupied with various duties from 1635 to the date of his death, and show conclusively that his journey must have been made at the date given, since he was not absent from Quebec long enough at any one time to have performed the feat subsequent to 1635.

Nicolet married Marguerite Couillard, at Quebec, October 7, 1637. He lost his life while on a mission to save a poor Abenaqui from the Algonquins, by the capsizing of his boat, October 31, 1642. To this bold adventurer, whose knowl¬ edge of the western tribes was gained by actual experience, must all praise be given for having opened to the devoted followers of the Cross the way to new fields of usefulness.

Early Jesuit Missions

The pipe of peace which Nicolet smoked with the western tribes was not pro¬ ductive of immediate good returns. The death of Champlain and the change in purposes and ambitions among the Canadian settlers, produced in the east an almost total forgetfulness of the upper lake country. For at least two decades of years after the discovery of Wisconsin by Nicolet, very dim and shadowy is its history. Here and there references to Green Bay and the Indians inhab¬ iting its shores, are made by Jesuit missionaries in their "Relations." The "Re¬ lations" were the records kept by the priests of their experiences in their ar- duous calling. For many years, beginning in 1632, the Superior of the Jesuit Mission in Canada - then New France - sent every summer to Paris his reports, which embodied or were accompanied by those of his subordinates. For forty years these reports were annually published in Paris, and were known as the "Jesuit Relations." Those which are of interest to the student of Wisconsin history begin with the year 1639-40 and extend to 1672. Says one of these records of date 1648: "This Superior Lake extends to the northwest, that is to say, between the west and the north. A peninsula, or strip of land quite small, separates the Superior Lake from another third lake, called by us the 'Lake of the Puants' (Green Bay) which also discharges itself into our fresh water sea, through a mouth which is on the other side of the peninsula, about ten leagues more to the west than the Sault. This third lake extends between the west and the southwest, more toward the west, and is almost equal in size to our fresh water sea. On its shores dwell a different people, of an unknown language, that is to say, a language that is neither Algonquin nor Huron. These people (the Winnebagoes) are called the Puants, not on account of any un¬ pleasant odor that is peculiar to them, but because they say they came from the shores of the sea far distant toward the west, the waters of which, being salt, they call themselves 'the people of the Stinking Water.' "

Another account written in 1654, after giving the arrival at Montreal of a fleet of canoes loaded with furs, belonging to friendly Indians, who came from the upper country a distance of four hundred leagues, speaks of a part of these Indians being the Tobacco nations of the Hurons, and a portion Ottawas, and adds : "These tribes have abandoned their ancient country and have retired to¬ ward the more distant nation in the vicinity of the Great Lake, whom we call Puants, in consequence of their having dwelt near the sea, which is salt, and which our savages call 'stinking water.' " The Hurons had been entirely over¬ thrown by the Iroquois in 1649 and 1650, and had abandoned their country. A division of this nation, called the Tobacco Indians, with such other Hurons as had taken refuge with them, settled on Mackinac Island, where they were joined by a branch of the Ottawas, nicknamed by the French Cheveux Releves, or Standing Hair ; hence this statement in the "Relations" that these nations had "retired toward the more distant" Winnebagoes.

Again, in the same year, this is recorded : "In the islands of the 'lake of the people of the sea,' whom some persons wrongly call the 'Puants,' there are many tribes whose language closely resembles the Algonquins." In 1656, one of the Jesuits writes: "Our attention has been directed toward a number of nations in the neighborhood of the 'Nation of the Sea,' whom some persons have called the 'Puants,' in consequence of their having formerly dwelt on the shores of the sea, which they call 'Winipeg,' that is to say, 'stinking water.' " Then follows an enumeration of the villages of Illinois and Sioux Indians, and of two other nations, the "Ponarak" and "Kiristinous." Such are the meager records of Wisconsin after its visitation by Nicolet, down to the year 1658.

In August, 1656, a band of the Ottawas, or other Algonquins, numbering three hundred, and in fifty birch bark canoes, appeared upon the St. Law¬ rence! These savages demanded commerce with the French, and missionaries for the boundless west. This was the beginning of the commerce of the north¬ west. But for the greed of the fur trader and the zeal of the Jesuit, the story of Nicolet would soon have passed from the mind of the Frenchmen inhabiting the St. Lawrence; and the discovery of Wisconsin, like the discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto, would soon have faded from the memory of man.

Hut a missionary, whose name is not yet appended to the "Relation," and it is consequently, uncertain who the reverend father was, took from the lips of an Indian captive, named Asatanik, and a man of considerable importance, an account of his having in the month of June, 1658, set out from Green Bay for the north, passing the rest of the summer and the following winter near Lake Superior so called because of its being above Lake Huron. This Indian informed the Jesuit of the havoc and desolation of the Iroquois # war in the west ; how it had reduced the Algonquin nations about Lake Superior and Green Hay. The same missionary saw at Quebec two Frenchmen, who had just arrived from the upper countries with three hundred Algonquins in sixty canoes, laden with peltries. These fur traders had passed the winter of 1659 on the shores of Lake Superior, during which time they made several trips among the surrounding tribes. In their wanderings they probably visited some of the northern parts of what is now Wisconsin. They saw, at six days' jour¬ ney beyond the lake toward the southwest, a tribe composed of the remainder of Ilurons of the Tobacco nation, compelled bv the Iroquois to abandon Macki¬ nac, and to bury themselves thus deep in the forests, that they might not be bound by their enemies. The two traders told the tales they had heard of the ferocious Sioux, and of a great river upon which they dwelt - the "great wa¬ ter" of Nicolet's guides. Thus a knowledge of the Mississippi began to dawn again upon the civilized world. It may be well to remember in this connection that the fur traders came to what is now Wisconsin in advance generally of the missionaries. They led the way for the Jesuit fathers; but as trade was their object, and they left no record of their visits, only vague knowledge is had of what they really saw or did. But slight mention is made of them in the Relations, where, as much as possible, their presence and doings are kept in the background.

The narratives of the Indian captive and of two Frenchmen were not lost upon the zealous Jesuits, for, two years later, Rene Menard attempted to plant a mission on the southern shore of Lake Superior but perished in the forest by starvation or the tomahawk. Thoroughly inured to Indian life, with many a dialect of Huron and Algonquin at his command, this missionary, in endeavor¬ ing to establish the Cross so far to the westward, went, with eight Frenchmen and a number of Ottawas, starting from Three Rivers, Canada, August 28, 1660. lie made his way to "a large bay" upon the southern shore of the lake, in all probability, what is now known as Keweenaw, Michigan. Here, however, he met with little success in founding a mission. He subsequently determined to visit some Hurons, who were then located upon, or near, the Noquet Islands in the mouth of Green Bay, and who had sent to implore the missionary to come amongst them, as they had long been destitute of a pastor, and many of them were fast relapsing into pagan habits. It should be remembered that the Hu¬ rons proper, and their allies and kindred of the Tobacco nation, had, many years before, while living near the Georgian Bay at Lake Huron, Canada, received the Jesuit missionaries at their villages and numbers had professed Christian¬ ity. Three of Menard's companions were sent to explore the way. Descending the Menomonee river, they finally reached the Huron village, where they found a few wretched Indians - mere living skeletons. On their way they encountered great hardships, owing to the rapid current of the stream, its portages and prec¬ ipices. Convinced of the impossibility of Menard's reaching the Hurons, or remaining with them, if he did, they returned, encountering still greater diffi¬ culties in ascending the river. These Frenchmen were, doubtless, in their peri¬ lous journey, many times upon what is now territory of Wisconsin - the Me¬ nomonee forming the northeastern boundary of the state. On their arrival at the lake they implored the aged missionary not to attempt a journey evidently beyond his ' strength. But to their remonstrance he interposed, "I must go if it, cost me my life." He set out with one Frenchman and some Hurons. His seventeen other companions returned to the St. Lawrence. Menard was soon left by the Hurons, and was afterward lost from his companion, who sought for him, but in vain. It seems that while his attendant was employed in transport¬ ing a canoe, Father Menard accidentally became separated from him. This was probably at the first rapids in the Menomonee river as we ascend that stream. It is possible, therefore, that the father may have perished upon what is now the soil of Wisconsin. This was about the ioth of August, 1661. With him perished the first mission - if, indeed, it can be called one - upon the shores of Lake Superior. His faithful companion, Donne John Guerin, reached the Huron village in safety. There was not at that time, another missionary station nearer than Montreal. But the failure of this first attempt did not discourage the Jesuits or quench their enthusiasm. But who was the man to cope with the thousand difficulties surrounding the establishment of a mission so far in western wilds ?

With better hopes, undismayed by the sad fate of Menard, indifferent to hunger, nakedness and cold; to the wreck of their ships of bark; and to fatigue and privations by night and by day - in August, 1665, Father Claude Allouez embarked on a mission, by way of the Ottawa, to the far west. Early in Sep¬ tember he reached the rapids through which the waters of Lake Superior rush to Lake Huron, and admired the beautiful river, with its woody isles and in¬ viting bays. On the 2d of that month he entered the Great Lake, which the savages revere as a divinity, and of which the entrance presents a spectacle of magnificence rarely excelled in the rugged scenery of the north. He passed the lofty ridge of naked sand which stretches along the shore its drifting heaps of barrenness ; he urged his canoe by the cliffs of pictorial sandstone, which for twelve miles rise three hundred feet in height, fretted by the chafing waves into arches and bastions, caverns and towering walls, heaps of prostrate ruins, and erect columns crowned with fantastic entablatures. Landing on the south shore, he said mass, thus consecrating the forests which he claimed for a Christian king. Sailing beyond the bay of St. Theresa (so named by Menard, now Ke¬ weenaw Bay), and having vainly sought for a mass of fine copper, of which he had heard rumors, (this being the first known of that metal by the whites), on the 1st day of October he arrived at the great village of the Chippewas, on the west shore of the bay of Chagouamigong, or Chegoimegon (now Chequamegon or Ashland bay, in Ashland and Bayfield counties). It was at a moment when the young warriors were bent on a strife with the warlike Sioux. A grand council of ten or twelve neighboring nations was held, to wrest the hatchet from the hands of the rash braves; and Allouez was admitted to an audienec before the vast assembly. In the name of Louis XIV, and his viceroy, he commanded peace, and offered commerce and an alliance against the Iroquois; the soldiers of France would smooth the path between the Chippewas and Quebec; would brush the pirate canoes from the rivers; would leave to the Five Nations no choice between tranquility and destruction. On the shores of the bay, to which the abundant fisheries attracted crowds, a chapel soon rose, and the Mission of the Holy Spirit was founded. As this chapel was the first house erected by civilized man upon territory now constituting the state of Wisconsin, some interest is attached to the place where it was built. The exact spot is not known. The fact that it was not on the Madaline, one of the Apostle islands, tradition and the tenor of the "Relations" seem conclusively to establish. It was prob¬ ably built upon section 22, in township fifty, of range four west, of the govern¬ ment survey, at a place now known as Pike's Bay, in Bayfield county, on the main land west of La Pointe. The claim is also made that the site is the section south of the one here named - 27 ; but the spot is merely a matter of specula¬ tion. He afterward removed near the present site of the last mentioned place on Madaline Island, where a second chapel was raised.

To the new chapel in the forest admiring throngs, who had never seen a European, came to gaze on the white man, and on the pictures which he dis¬ played of the realms of hell and of the last judgment; there a choir of Chippe¬ was was taught to chant the pater noster and the Ave Marie. During his so¬ journ here he lighted the torch of faith for more than twenty different nations. The dwellers round the Sault, a band of Chippewas, pitched their tents near his cabin for a month, and received his instructions. The scattered Hurons and Ottawas that roamed the deserts north of Lake Superior appealed to his com¬ passion and, before his return, secured his presence among themselves. From Lake Michigan came the Pottawatomies, and these worshipers of the sun in¬ vited him to their homes. The Sacs and Foxes traveled on foot from their coun¬ try, which abounded in deer, beaver and buffalo. The Illinois, a hospitable race, unaccustomed to canoes, having no weapons but the bow and arrow, came to rehearse their sorrows. Their ancient glory and their numbers had been dimin¬ ished by the Sioux on one side and by the Iroquois, armed with muskets, on the other. Curiosity was aroused by their tale of the noble river (the Missis¬ sippi) on which they dwelt, and which flowed toward the south. They had no forests but instead, vast prairies, where herds of deer and buffalo and other an¬ imals grazed on the tall grasses. They explained also the wonders of the peace pipe and declared it their custom to welcome the friendly stranger with shouts of joy. "Their country," said Allouez, "is the best field for the gospel. Had I had leisure I would have gone to their dwellings to see with my own eyes all the good that was told of them." Then, too, at the very extremity of the lake, the missionary met the wild, impassive Sioux, who dwelt to the west of Lake Superior, in a land of prairies, with wild rice for food, and skins of beasts, instead of bark, for roofs to their cabins, on the banks of the great river, of which Allouez reported the name to be "Messipi." After two years of labor, Allouez, having founded the missions of the Ottawas and Chippewas, and re¬ vived those of the Hurons and Nipissings, returned to Quebec, to lay before his superior a full account of the west and of his doings there ; and then, two days later, set out again for Chemoimegon, having with him a companion, Father Louis Nicholas. They reached the mission in safety. Nicholas soon left but his place was afterward supplied in the person of Father James Marquette, who left Quebec in April, 1668, for the upper country, stopping with his superior, Father Claudius Coblon, at Sault Ste Marie. Here a station was begun at the foot of the rapids, on the southern side, by them called the Mission of St. Mary. From this Marquette made his way to the Mission of the Holy Spirit at Chegoimegon, which he reached in September, 1669, and found there five vil¬ lages of Indians - four Algonquin and one Huron. Allouez, in the meantime, planned a new mission on the waters of the lake, of the Puants; that is, among the tribes inhabiting the country of Green Bay and vicinity. However, before following the missionary to this interesting field of labor, let us return to the Mission of the Holy Spirit, where was left Father James Marquette. This mis¬ sionary, anxious to extend the faith, had sent an interpreter to the Sioux, bear¬ ing a present to the tribe to obtain protection and safe conduct for the European heralds of the Cross. Afterward the Ottawas and Hurons of Chegoimegon provoked a war with the Sioux which compelled the tribes first mentioned to flee the country. The Sioux, however, returned the missionary his pictures and other presents before they declared war. The Ottawas fled to the Great Manitoulin Island. The Hurons remained for a time with Marquette, but finally embarked on Lake Superior, and, descending the rapids, doubled the cape, and landed at Mackinaw, where they had dwelt some years previous. Marquette fol¬ lowed these tribes in 1671, raising a new chapel on the main land, on the north shore of the straits, opposite the island of Mackinaw, calling his mission St. Ignatius. The chapel at Chegoimegon was, of course, deserted. It was the end, for one hundred and seventy years, of a mission upon that bay.

On the 3d of November, 1669, two canoes set out from the Mission of Sault Ste. Marie for Green Bay. They contained some Pottawatomies returning to their homes, and were accompanied by Father Claude Allouez. They had re¬ quested him to visit their country for the purpose of restraining some traders who had ill treated them there. He was very willing to undertake the journey, as it was taking him to the field he had chosen for the founding of his new mis¬ sion. A month was consumed in the passage. November clouds hung heavily overhead and broke in storms that came near drowning the party in the lake. Floating pieces of ice opposed their progress. On the 25th they reached a cabin of the Pottawatomies, where they were supplied with a limited amount of beech nuts. Two days later they visited some lodges of the Menomonees. These In¬ dians they found pressed with hunger, and being themselves at the end of their provisions, they pushed forward. Eight leagues from the river of the Menomo¬ nees they arrived at the village, which was the home of the companions of Allouez. This was on the 2d of December, the eve of St. Francis Xavier. This saint, Allouez chose as the patron of his mission, giving it his name. He found here eight Frenchmen, whom he assembled to join with him in thanksgiving for his preservation in his perilous journey from the Sault. The village was the winter quarters of about six hundred Pottawatomies, Winnebagoes, and Sacs and Foxes. Allouez passed the chief part of the winter here, giving religious instruction. Thus was founded by him the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, the second mission within the present bounds of Wisconsin.

In February, 1670, lie crossed the bay upon the ice to a Pottawatomie vil¬ lage of about three hundred people, where he labored for a few days. He was able to visit only one or two of the smaller villages. With the thaws of March the Indians began to disperse for betters means of subsistence. The ice broke up on the 12th of April. By the 16th Allouez had reached the entrance to Fox river, at the head of Green Bay. Passing a village of the Sacs, a place now known as Depere, Brown county, he afterward reached the mouth of Wolf river, up which stream he turned his canoe, to a large village of the Foxes, probably within the present county of Outagamie. Here the missionary founded another mission, which he called St. Mark, the third one in Wisconsin.

Allouez afterward ascended Fox river, of Green Bay, to the homes of the Miamis and Mascoutins, returning subsequently to the place where he had passed the winter. Thence he proceeded to the Menomonees; also to the Winnebagoes upon the opposite side of the bay ; and to the Pottawatomies. On the 20th of May, 1670, he started on his return to Sault Ste. Marie. In September he again visited Green Bay, accompanied by the superior of the Ottawa missions, Claude Dablon. At the previous winter quarters of Allouez, they quieted a dis¬ turbance between the Indians and some fur traders. "We found affairs," says Dablon, "in a pretty bad posture, and the minds of the savages much soured against the French, who were there trading ; ill treating them in deeds and words, pillaging and carrying away their merchandise in spite of them, and conduct¬ ing themselves toward them with insupportable insolences and indignities." The soldiers in particular were complained of, for thus early had the arms of France been carried to the waters of Green Bay. The missionaries held here a council with the congregated tribes, where, as they harangued their unbred audi¬ ence their gravity was often put to a sore test; for a band of warriors, anxious to do them honor, walked incessantly up and down, aping the movements of the soldiers on guard before the governor's tent at Montreal. "We could hardly keep from laughing," writes Dablon, "though we were discoursing on very im¬ portant subjects, namely: the mysteries of our religion, and the things necessary to escaping eternal fire."

The fathers were delighted with the country, which Dablon calls an earthly paradise; but he adds that the way to it is as hard as the path to heaven. From here they proceeded up Fox river to the towns of the Mascoutins, and the Miamis, which they reached on the 15th of September. In passing the lower rapids of that stream, they observed a stone image that the savages honored, "never failing in passing to make some sacrifice of tobacco, or arrows, or paint¬ ings, or other things, to thank him that, by his assistance, they had, in ascend¬ ing the river, avoided the dangers of the waterfalls which are in this stream ; or else, if they had to descend, to pray him to aid them in this perilous navigation." These missionaries caused this idol, as they termed it, "to be lifted up by the strength of arm and cast into the depths of the river to appear no more" to the idolatrous people. Crossing Winnebago lake, the two priests followed the river to the village of the two tribes. This village was enclosed with palisades. The missionaries, who had brought a highly colored picture of the Last Judgment, called the Indians together in council and displayed it before them, while Al¬ louez, who spoke Algonquin, haranged them on hell, demons and eternal flames. They listened with open ears, beset him night and day with questions, and in- vited him and his companions to unceasing feasts. Dablon returned to the Sault, and Allouez, during the winter made his way to his mission of St. Mark, though not without danger, as the Foxes were in extreme ill humor. They were incensed against the French by the wrong usage which some of their tribes had lately met when on a trading visit to Montreal.

In the summer of 1671, Father Louis Andre was sent to the Green Bay region as a co-worker. The Sac village, at the lower falls of the Fox river, was observed to be a great resort for all the surrounding tribes, whose num¬ bers were estimated at 15,000. They were drawn here for the purpose of traf¬ fic, also by the abundance of water fowl, and by its somewhat remarkable fish¬ ery, prepared by means of stakes set in the water across the river. The fish in ascending congregated at this barrier, where they were taken in great numbers by means of dip nets. Here, at what is now the village of Depere, was located the central station of St. Francis Xavier, which mission included all the bay tribes. A rude chapel, the first upon these waters, was erected, the third one within the present limits of the state. It has been frequently published that the Mission of St. Francis Xavier was founded at Depere in 1669. This, however, is a misapprehension, as, until 1671, the mission was a roving one, though con¬ fined to the bay tribes.

Allouez, leaving his companion in charge, employed himself among the Foxes and Miamis. He continued his missionary work, extending his labors to other tribes, until 1676, when, on the 6th of April, he was joined by Father Anthony Siloy. In October following he succeeded Marquette in the Illinois mission. About 1679 Siloy was recalled and his place filled by Father Peter A. BormeauT. Allouez, driven from the Illinois, soon after returned to the Mascoutins and Miamis, but went again to the Illinois in 1684, where he prob¬ ably remained some time. He was there in 1687 and died about the year 1689.

Andre worked with zeal in the mission of St. Francis Xavier. His rude chapel was hung with pictures calculated to strike the imaginations of the sav¬ ages with powerful force. One represented the twelve apostles ; another showed Jesus dying on the cross, while a third portrayed the general judgment. At the top of this last one parents could not help but observe the contrast be¬ tween the places occupied by the baptized children and the one where Satan endured horrible torments..

During Andre's temporary absence, his chapel was burned, with all his household goods and winter's provisions, by savages opposed to his labors. He reared a cabin upon the ruins of the former one, and continued to teach the gospel to the benighted heathen. His dwelling was next burned but he built another on the Menomonee, which shared the same fate. Still he kept on with his labors, living in his canoe, and going from place to place among the six tribes of his mission.

In 1676, Father Charles Abanel, superior of the Ottawa mission, was sta¬ tioned at what is now Depere, where a new and better chapel was built, partly by the aid of fur traders. But the prosperous days for the mission were well nigh ended. In 1680 Father John Enjalran was alone at this mission. At this date the Winnebagoes were hostile to the efforts of the missionary. Enjalran was recalled in 1687. Upon his departure his house and chapel were burned. He returned no further than Mackinaw and the mission of St. Francis Xavier

Under French Dominion

The governor of Canada, John Talon, was an able, vigorous and patriotic Frenchman, lie cherished high hopes for the future of New France. Fie not only labored strenuously to develop the industrial resources of the colony, but addressed himself to discovering and occupying the interior of the continent; "controlling the rivers, which were its only highways; and securing it for France against every other nation." But the region was still, to a very great extent, an unknown world; yet sufficient knowledge had he of the upper lakes and circumjacent regions to resolve that possession must be taken at once of the country, to secure it to France; meanwhile, an active search was to be carried on for mines of copper.

The agent employed by Talon for the work of securing the great west to the king of France, was Daumont de St. Lusson. The latter set out in 1670, from the St. Lawrence, accompanied by a small party of men. With him was Nicholas Perrot, a Canadian voyageur, who was to act as interpreter. Perrot spoke Algonquin fluently and was favorably known to many of the tribes of that family. He was a man of enterprise, courage and address. His influence with many of the western nations was great. It was arranged that St. Lusson should winter at the Manitoulin Islands, while Perrot, having first sent mes¬ sages to the tribes of the north, inviting them to meet the deputy of the gover¬ nor at the Sault Ste. Marie, in what is now the state of Michigan, not far from the foot of Lake Superior, in the following spring, should proceed to Green Bay to urge the nations seated upon its waters to the meeting.

Perrot wintered among the tribes at the bay, and was industrious in making preparations for the journey of the principal chiefs of surrounding nations to the Sault, where they were to meet the representatives of many other tribes gathered for the conference with St. Lusson. Sachems of the Pottawatomies who also represented the Miamis, chiefs of the Sacs, head men of the Winnebagoes and Menomonees, all embarked for the place of rendezvous, along with the indomitable interpreter, where they arrived May 5, 1671, finding that St. Lusson with his men, fifteen in number, had preceded them more than a month. Indians came from other directions - among them were Creez, Monsonis, Amikjoues, Nipissings and others. When all had reached the rapids, the gov¬ ernor's deputy prepared to execute the commission with which he was charged - the taking possession of the country in the name of the French king, with the full consent of all the assembled chiefs deputed to give acquiescence for the surrounding nations.

The ceremony was to be an imposing one. To this end a large cross of wood had been prepared. It was now reared and planted in the ground. Then a post of cedar was raised beside it, with a metal plate attached, engraven with the royal arms. "In the name," said St. Lusson, "of the most high, mighty and redoubtable monarch, Louis, fourteenth of that name, most Christian king of France and of Navarre, I take possession of this place, Sainte Marie du Sault, as also of Lakes Huron and Superior, the island of Manitoulin, and all coun¬ tries, rivers, lakes and streams contiguous and adjacent thereunto; both those which have been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of the north, and of the west, and on the other by the south sea; declaring to the nations thereof, that from this time forth they are vassals of his majesty, bound to obey his laws and follow his customs ; promising them on his part all succor and protection against the incursions and invasions of their enemies; declaring to all other potentates, princes, sovereigns, states and republics - to them and their subjects - that they cannot and are not to seize or settle upon any parts of the aforesaid countries, save only under the good pleasure of his most Christian majesty, and of him who will govern in his behalf ; and this on pain of in¬ curring his resentment and the efforts of his arms." This was followed by a great shout of assent on part of , the assembled savages and of "Vive le Roi" by the Frenchmen. Thus it was that the great northwest was not only placed under the protection of France, but became a part of her American possessions. And why not? She had discovered it - had, to a certain extent, explored it - had, to a limited extent, established commerce with it - and her missionaries had proclaimed the faith to the red men of its forests.

The act of St. Lusson in establishing French supremacy in the country be¬ yond Lake Michigan not being regarded as sufficiently definite, Perrot, in 1689, at the head of Green Bay, again took possession of this region, extending the dominion of New France not only over the territory of the upper Mississippi, but "to other places more remote." This completed the work so auspiciously carried forward in 1671, by this intrepid voyageur.

Discovery Of The Upper Mississippi

The gathering of the nations at the Sault Ste. Marie by St. Lusson, was fol¬ lowed by an event of the utmost importance to French interest in the west. This was the discovery, if such it can be called, of the LTpper Mississippi. Now, for the first time, the upper half of that river was, to a certain extent, explored. For the first time white men beheld its vast tribute in this upper country, roll¬ ing onward toward the Mexican gulU The discoverer was Louis Joliet. He had visited the upper lakes in previous years, knew well of the existence of the great river through Indian reports, was a man of close and intelligent observa¬ tion, possessing considerable mathematical acquirements. He was born at Que¬ bec in 1645, and was educated by the Jesuits, resolving at first to be a priest but afterward turned fur trader. In 1673 he was a merchant, courageous, hardy, enterprising. He was just the man for the French authorities to entrust with the proposed discovery and exploration of the Upper Mississippi. This was in 1672. Said the governor of Canada, on the 2d of November of that year: "It has been judged expedient to send Sieur Joliet to the Mascoutins (then located in what is now Green Lake county, Wisconsin), to discover the South Sea, and thq great river they call the Mississippi, which is supposed to discharge itself into the Sea of California." "He is a man," continued Frontenac, "of great experience in these sorts of discoveries, and has already been almost at the great river, the mouth of which he promises to see."

Joliet reached the mission of St. Ignatius, a point north of the Island of Mackinac, in the spring of 1673, finding there Father James Marquette, mis¬ sionary, whom he invited to join the expedition. The invitation was gladly ac¬ cepted. On the 17th of May, Joliet, having with him Marquette and five other

Frenchmen, left the mission on his voyage of exploration. He had two bark canoes. Kvery possible precaution was taken that, should the undertaking prove hazardous, it should not be foolhardy. So, whatever of information could not be gathered from the Indians who had frequented those parts, was laid under contribution, as he paddled merrily up the waters of Green Bay. The first Indian nation met by him was the Menomonee. He was dissauded by these savages from venturing so far to the westward, assured that he would meet tribes which never spared strangers, but tomahawked them without pro¬ vocation; that a war which had broken out among various nations on his route, exposed him and his men to another evident danger - that of being killed by war parties constantly in his path. He was told that the great river was very dangerous unless the difficult parts were known ; that it was full of frightful monsters who swallowed men and canoes together ; that there was even a demon there who could be heard from afar, who stopped the passage and engulfed all who dared approach ; and lastly, that the heat was so excessive in those countries that it would infallibly cause their death. Nevertheless, Joliet determined to go forward.

The "Relations" of Joliet and Marquette contain the statement that maps were prepared by them, for their guidance, from the reports of friendly Indians. Two of Joliet's charts have never been published, but a third (and probably the earliest) has recently been given to the world by M. Gabriel Gravier, president of the Norman Geographical Society, who is an authority on the subject of early explorations in America. The map is full of errors, which must have been known to Joliet as such at the time. Its value consists chiefly in the fact that it is the only specimen of Joliet's cartography thus far made public. Unlike Marquette's map, this one contains a crude representation of the stopping place at Chicago, which is vaguely designated as Mont Joliet.

Joliet found the Fox river very beautiful at its mouth, having a gentle cur¬ rent. It was full of bustards, duck, teal and other birds, attracted by wild oats, which were plentiful and of which they were very fond. As the party advanced up the river a little distance, it was found to be difficult of ascent, both on ac¬ count of the currents and of the sharp rocks which cut their canoes. But the rapids in the stream were passed in safety. The Mascoutins were reached at length and in their village was gathered also the Miamis and Kickapoos. Bark for cabins was found to be rare in the Mascoutin village, the Indians using rushes, which served them for walls and roof, but which were no great shelter against the wind and still less against the rain when it fell in torrents. The view from the Indian village was beautiful and very picturesque; for, from the k eminence on which it was perched, the eye discovered on every side, delightful prairies, spreading out beyond its reach, interspersed with thickets or groves of lofty trees. The soil was found to be very good, producing much corn. Plums also and grapes were gathered in the autumn in quantities by the Indians.

Joliet and his party arrived at the Mascoutins on the 7th of June; their de¬ parture was on the 10th. "We knew," afterward wrote Marquette, "that there was three (thirty) leagues from Maskoutens (Mascoutins), a river (the Wisconsin) entering into the Mississippi; we knew, too, that the point of the compass we were to hold to reach it was west, southwest, but the way is so cut up by marshes and little lakes that it is easy to go astray, especially as the river leading to it is so covered with wild oats that you can hardly discover the chan¬ nel. Hence we had good need of our two (Miami) guides, who led us safely to a portage of twenty-seven hundred paces (the site of the present city of Por¬ tage, Columbia county, Wisconsin), and helped us to transport our canoes to enter this river (the Wisconsin), after which they returned, leaving us alone in an unknown country in the hands of Providence."

"We now leave," continues Marquette, "the waters which flow to Quebec, a distance of four or five hundred leagues, to follow those which will hence¬ forth lead us into strange lands. * * * The river on which we embarked is called Meskousing (Wisconsin) ; it is very broad, with a sandy bottom, forming many shallows, which render navigation very difficult. It is full of vine clad is¬ lets. On the banks appear fertile lands diversified with wood, prairie and hill. Here you find oaks, walnut, whitewood and another kind of tree armed with thorns. We saw no small game or' fish, ( but deer and moose in considerable numbers."

On the 17th of June, with a joy inexpressible, Joliet and his party reached and entered the Mississippi. After dropping down the river many miles they returned by the Illinois river and Lake Michigan to Green Bay. Here Mar¬ quette remained to recruit his wasted energies, while Joliet proceeded on to Quebec, where he reported his discoveries and explorations to the governor of New France.

Explorations Subsequent To Joliet

Explorations begun by Joliet were continued. La Salle, in 1679, with Father Louis Hennepin, coasted along the western shore of Lake Michigan, landing frequently. The return of Henri de Tonty, one of La Salle's party down the same coast to Green Bay from Illinois, followed in 1680. The same year Father Hennepin, from the Upper Mississippi, whither he had gone from the Illinois, made his way across what is now Wisconsin, by the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, to Green Bay. He was accompanied by Daniel Graysolon Du Lhut (synony¬ mous with Duluth) who on his way down the "great river" from Lake Superior had met Hennepin. "As we went up the river Wisconsin," says the latter, "we found it was as large as that of the Illinois, which is navigable for large ves¬ sels above a hundred leagues. We could not sufficiently admire the extent of those vast countries, and the charming lands through which we passed, which lie all untilled. The cruel wars which these nations have one with another are the cause that they have not people enough to cultivate them. And the more bloody wars which have raged so long in all parts of Europe, have hindered the sending Christian colonies to settle them. However, I must needs say that the poorer sort of our countrymen would do well to think of it and go and plant themselves in this fine country, where, for a little pains in cultivating the earth, they would live happier and subsist much better than they do here."

Following the voyage of Hennepin was the one of the Le Sueur, in 1683, from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, ascending that river to the Sioux coun¬ try in the region about St. Anthony, and his subsequent establishment, said to have been in 1693, at La Pointe, in the present Ashland county, Wisconsin. He was, at least, "a voyageur stationed at Chegoimegon" during that year. He continued to trade with the Sioux at intervals to the year 1702.

Nicholas l'errot, who, as the agent of St. Lusson, had collected the Green Lay tribes in 1671, to assemble at the congress held at the Sault Ste. Marie, again made his appearance in the Winnebago country, this time in the year 10S4. He was commissioned by the government of New France to manage the tur trade from Green Bay westward. "I was sent to his bay," he writes, "charged with the commission to have chief command there, and to the most dis¬ tant countries on the side of the west." He passed the winter of 1685 and 1686 at a post erected by him on the east side of the Mississippi, at the foot of Lake Pepin, this being the first post on the Upper Mississippi. Thence he proceeded overland to Green Bay. Meanwhile, he had been ordered by Denouville, the new governor, who did not approve of such distant enterprises, to return with all the Frenchmen in this region, which order he now obeyed. In 1687 he was again at Green Bay, being engaged to bring the Indians inhabiting its shores to the assistance of Denouville against the Iroquois. In 1690 Perrot set out from Montreal with presents and messages to the Indians of the upper country, for the purpose of thwarting the English, who had opened negotia¬ tions with several nations. Two years subsequent he was sent to Green Bay, chiefly to guard against and frustrate the English overtures to the Miamis and their allies, and in August, 1693, he conducted ten or twelve chiefs of the dif¬ ferent tribes to Montreal . He visited the Miamis again in 1697, by whom he was captured. He was, however, set at liberty through the intercession of the Foxes. The voyage of St. Cosme, in 1699, when he and his companions fre¬ quently landed on the west coast of Lake Michigan, was followed by that of Le Sueur up the Mississippi in 1700. But far more important was that of Father Charlevoix in 1721 to the waters of Green Bay from Mackinaw, because of his valuable record of what he saw in that part of the country. Other ex¬ plorations followed, notably that of Father Guignas, in 1727, and of the Sieur de Laperrier, in the same year, so that, by the end of the first hundred years after the discovery of Wisconsin by Nicolet, considerable knowledge of its ter¬ ritory was brought home to the civilized world.

Fur traders, or at least their employes, were the first explorers, after Nico¬ let, of Wisconsin. They presented the Jesuit missionaries. These traders sent from the St. Lawrence, hatchets, knives, blankets and other articles coveted by the savage, to exchange with him for furs. Their employes, the voyageurs, made their journeys into the far off regions in birch bark canoes, of the lightest possible construction, for they had frequently to be carried by hand around rapids, and from one stream to another along carrying places, called portages. They usually made up their outfit at Quebec or Montreal, and ascending the Ottawa during the summer and subsequently that river and the lower lakes proceeded to the various tribes inhabiting the region of the upper lakes, either wintering at Indian villages or at stations which had been established by them in their neighborhood. With their peltries, gathered during the winter and early spring they returned usually the next summer ; but sometimes they were required to make longer voyages. The fur traders were, as a class, men of some wealth, of respectable families and of considerable intelligence, and were pos- sessed of enterprising and adventurous habits. They found the fur trade more profitable, or more congenial to their dispositions than agricultural pursuits. Their menials, the voyageurs, penetrated the fastnesses of the western wilder¬ ness with a perseverance and courage almost without a parallel in the history of explorations of savage countries. Indeed, they outsavaged the savage in that respect.

The French government early manifested a disposition to extend her do¬ minions in America. At the very commencement of the seventeenth century she had colonized Acadia. In 1608 Quebec was founded. In 1663 New France (Canada) was made a royal colony. The reports circulated in France of the advantages of the fur trade were such as to induce many of the nobility and gentry to invest their fortunes in the new world. With this patronage and the constantly increasing number of colonists, New France grew rapidly in com¬ merce, the most lucrative branch of which was dealing in furs. The voyageurs were the usual agents employed by the French government to extend and up¬ hold its dominion in the northwest. The traffic in furs maintained with the In¬ dians constituted the only value of this region in the eyes of Frenchmen, so long as France continued her dominion over it. The regular fur trader was licensed by the government, this license generally stipulating the territory in which they were permitted to operate. It was drawn in the nature of a colonial commis¬ sion, conferring upon the licensed trader the authority of a military officer over the voyageurs in his employ. It also made him a commercial agent of the government among the Indians. He was frequently employed as special agent of the colony to make treaties. Sometimes he was required to lead his voya¬ geurs upon war expeditions in return for his fur trading privileges. His em¬ ployes, therefore, were always around, equipped and familiarized with military duties, partly from necessity of defending themselves from attacks of hostile Indians, and partly to be enabled to carry out any requisition made by the gov¬ ernment. The dominion of France over the western country was thus made self sustaining. But the government found some trouble in controlling the traf¬ fic in furs. There grew up an illicit trade, maintained by couriers de bois, in contradistinction to the regular traders, the voyageurs. They followed the In¬ dians in their wanderings and sometimes became as barbarous as the red men. A few years of forest life seemed to wean them from all thought or desire for civilization. They spread over the northwest, the outlaws of the forest. Al¬ though rendering essential aid at times to the government, the king of France, in 1699, launched a royal declaration against them. When French domination ceased in the northwest there was an essential change in the fur trade.

The military occupation of the country of the upper lakes by the French including, of course, what is now Wisconsin - was, after all, only a nominal pos¬ session, intended as a protection to the fur trade. Posts, which were mere stock¬ ades without cannon, built by fur traders and held by them in the name of the king, though at their own expense, were erected on the waters of the Missis¬ sippi, at least at two points within what are now the boundaries of the state ; one upon the north side of Lake Pepin, another on an eastern tributary of the Mississippi, some distance inland. No post was established at or in the vicin¬ ity of, the mouth of the Wisconsin river, prior to English domination, as has been supposed. There was a stockade at La Pointe, in 1726, but how long it was occupied, is not now known. On the west side of Fox river, not far above the mouth of that stream, there was erected somewhere between 1718 and 1721, a post having a commandant. It was afterward destroyed, then rebuilt, but deserted by the French before the occupation of the vicinity by the British. It was the only fort regularly occupied by French soldiers within what is now \\ isconsin. It was called Fort St. Francis, and was in 1721 under the author¬ ity of Captain de Montigny. In 1726 it was commanded by Sieur Ameritan, and in 1754 by Sieur Marin, soon after which it was abandoned.

During the continuance of French supremacy in the northwest there were no permanent civilized settlements in Wisconsin. There was no immigration hither for the purpose of tilling the soil, or engaging in the other useful voca¬ tions of life. The posts of fur traders and the few log huts erected in their vi¬ cinity were only temporary residences. The white population was "like drift¬ wood from the current of a stream, only to be swept away again upon the next eddy."

The Fox Indians are supposed to have migrated from the banks of the river St. Lawrence, at a remote period, being driven west, and settling upon the waters of Saginaw, Michigan. Thence they were forced by the Iroquois to Green Bay, but were compelled to move subsequently to Fox river. The perse¬ cutions of the Five Nations continuing, they retreated to Wolf river, where, in 1670, they were visited by Father Allouez. The next year they stood aloof from the congress held by Daumont de St. Lusson, at the Sault. French fur traders had, thus early, aroused their animosity by their ill treatment, and when, subsequently the nation returned to the Fox river, they held this thoroughfare securely against the voyageurs from Green Bay to the Mississippi ; not, how¬ ever. until at the summons of De la Barre, in 1684, they had sent warriors against the Iroquois; and not until they had taken part on the side of the French in Denouville's more serious campaign. As early as 1693, several fur traders had been plundered by them, while on their way to the Sioux, the Foxes alleging that they were carrying arms to their ancient enemies. Their hostility continuing, the Fox river was completely blockaded.

Farly in the spring of 1712, a number of Foxes and Mascoutins encamped close to the fort at Detroit. This post was commanded by M. Dubuisson. His garrison numbered only thirty French soldiers. The Foxes and their allies, the Mascoutins, soon became insolent, calling themselves the owners of all the country. It seems to have been a plan laid by them to burn the fort, but their purpose was communicated to the commandant by a friendly Fox. An express was immediately sent to the hunting grounds of the Ottawas and Hurons by Dubuisson for aid. The Chippewas and another tribe, upon the other side of the lake, were invited to join with him in defending his post. The commandant took such measures of defense as his limited force would permit. On the 13th of May he was reenforced by seven or eight Frenchmen. Happily other aid arrived - quite a number of Indians from various nations around, who, joining the Hurons, entered the fort to assist in defending it. This brought matters to a crisis, and firing commenced between the besiegers and the besieged. With un¬ daunted courage, Dubuisson for nineteen days continued to defend his post. The assailants were finally obliged to retreat, their provisions becoming ex¬ hausted. Some of the Frenchmen, with the Indians, soon started in pursuit, overtaking the enemy near Lake St. Clair, where they had erected entrench¬ ments. They held their position four days, fighting with much courage, when they were forced to surrender, receiving no quarter from the victors. All were killed except the women and children, whose lives were spared, and one hun¬ dred men who had been tied, but escaped. There were a few Sacs engaged in this attack on the fort, but more, perhaps, were fighting upon the other side. The Foxes were incensed rather than weakened by the severe loss they sus¬ tained near Detroit; and their hostility continuing, not only against the French but the Indian tribes in alliance with them, caused a proposition to be brought forward by the Marquis de Vaudreuil to commence a war of extermination against the Foxes. To this most of the friendly nations readily assented. A party of French troops was raised and put under the command of De Louvigny, a lieutenant, who left Quebec in March, 1716, returning to that place in Octo¬ ber of the same year. He ascended to Detroit in canoes with all possible des¬ patch. There he received reenforcements and thence urged his way to Macki¬ naw, where "his presence inspired in all the Frenchmen and Indians a confi¬ dence which was a presage of victory." With a respectable force - said to have been eight hundred strong - De Louvigny entered Green Bay and ascended Fox river, to what point is now uncertain, when he encountered the enemy in a pallisaded fort. William R. Smith, in his History of Wisconsin says : "The Foxes had selected a stronghold on the Fox river, now known as the 'Butte des Morts,' or 'Hill of the Dead,'" but, he does not designate the exact locality. "After three days of open trenches," says the commander, "sustained by a con¬ tinuous fire of fusileers, with two pieces of cannon and a grenade mortar, they were reduced to ask for peace notwithstanding they had five hundred warriors in the fort, who fired briskly, and , more than three thousand women; they also expected shortly a reenforcement of three hundred men. But the promptitude with which the officers who were in this action pushed forward the trenches that I had opened only seventy yards from their fort, made the enemy fear, the third night, that they would be taken. As I(was only twenty-four yards from their fort, my design was to reach their triple oak stakes by a ditch of a foot and a half in the rear. Perceiving very well that my balls had not the effect I an¬ ticipated, I decided to take the place at the first onset, and to explode two vmines under their curtains. The boxes being properly placed for (the purpose, I did not listen to the enemy's first proposition ; but they, having made a second one, I submitted it to my allies, who consented to it on the following conditions : That the Foxes and their allies would make peace with all the Indians who are sub¬ missive to the king, and with whom the French are engaged in trade and com¬ merce; and that they would return to me all the French prisoners they had, and those captured during the war from all our allies (this was complied with im¬ mediately) ; that they would take slaves from distant nations and deliver them to our allies to replace their dead ; that they would hunt to pay the expenses of the war ; and, as a surety of their keeping their word, that they should deliver me six chiefs, or the children of chiefs, to take with me to M. La Marquis de Vaudreuil as hostages, until the entire execution of our treaty, which they did, and I took them with me to Quebec. Besides I have reunited the other nations at variance among themselves, and have left that country enjoying universal peace."

Rut the Foxes proved irreconcilable. War was renewed at Detroit in 1721; and in 1728, another expedition was organized, "to go and destroy" that na¬ tion. It was commanded by Marchand de Lignery, who had, two years before, held a council at Green Bay with the Foxes, Sacs and Winnebagoes, when these tribes promised to maintain peace. But the boxes paid no regard to their plighted faith and continued their hostility; and joined with them were the Sacs and W innebagoes. De Lignery left Montreal in June, 1728, proceeding by way of the Ottawa river and Lake Huron to Mackinaw, thence to Green Bay, upon the northern shore of which the Menomonees, who had also made common cause with the Foxes, were attacked and defeated. This was on the 15th of August. O11 the evening of the 17th the mouth of the Fox river was reached, when it became evident that the savages had knowledge of the expe¬ dition. It had been the intention of De Lignery to attack a Sac village just above Fort St. Francis - the French post, where he wished to surprise the enemy who were staying with their allies, the Sacs. He arrived at the French fort at mid¬ night and immediately sent word to the commandant of his presence and asked for information as to whether the Foxes were still in the Sac village. The re¬ ply was that they ought to be found there ; but, upon moving forward, De Lignery discovered that both Sacs and Foxes had all escaped except four, who were captured and soon put to death by the Indians accompanying the expedi¬ tion.

On the 24th of August, the army, consisting of not less than four hundred French, and seven hundred and fifty Indians, consisting of Hurons, Iroquois, Ottawas and others, reached a Winnebago village on Fox river, which was de¬ serted and which, with the crops in the vicinity, was destroyed by the invaders. Thence they proceeded to the home of the Foxes farther up that stream. Four of their villages were found but all were deserted. They secured four prison¬ ers, - two squaws and a girl who were reduced to slavery, and an old man, who was "burned to death at a slow fire." After destroying the villages and fields of the Foxes, the army returned, having, in. reality, accomplished little, save the destruction of the crops and empty huts of the enemy. "After this ex¬ pedition." says its historian, Emanuel Crespel, "if such a useless march de¬ serves that name, we prepared to return to Montreal." On their return, the French post near the mouth of the Fox river was destroyed, "because, being so near the enemy, it would not afford a secure retreat to the French, who must be left as a garrison." When the army arrived at Mackinaw, the "commander gave permission to every one to go where he pleased."

Another expedition against the Foxes, led by Neyon de Villiers in Septem¬ ber, 1730, was more successful. His forces, including Indians, numbered not less than twelve hundred. It resulted in the almost total defeat of ,the Foxes. Two hundred of their warriors were "killed on the spot, or burned, after hav¬ ing been taken as slaves, and six hundred women and children were absolutely destroyed." Such only are the facts known of this successful enterprise of the French and their allies. But the Foxes were not humbled. They drew the Sacs into a firmer alliance and soon became so troublesome that another expedition was planned against them - this time under the command of Captain de Nayelle. Preparations began near the close of 1734, and it was carried on the following year with sixty soldiers and probably a number of Indian allies. The Foxes were attacked in their own country, where they had suffered defeat at the hands of De Villiers. This was the last enterprise of the French against that trouble¬ some nation. Many places have been designated upon Fox river as the points' of conflict in these expeditions, but all such designations are traditionary; noth¬ ing is known with certainty concerning them.