La Crosse County, Wisconsin - The whole text, 1881 (part 8 of 16)

Next comes tlie Wisconsin, the longest and most crooked river in the state. It rises in the ' extreme northern sections, and its general course is southerly until, at Portage City, it makes a grand sweep to the westward and unites with the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien. It has numerous tributaries, and, together with these, drains a larger area of country than any other river in the state. Its waters flow swiftly and over numerous rapids and embryo falls, which renders logdriving and raft-running very difficult and even hazardous. The timber is generally near the banks of the main stream and its tributaries, gradually diminishing in extent as it recedes from them and giving place to the several varieties of hard-woods. The extent 10 which operations have l.ieen carried on necessitates going further up the stream for available timber, although there is yet what may be termed an abundant supiily. The first cutting of lumber on this stream, of which there is any record, was by government soldiers, in iS.^S, at the building of Fort \\ innebago. In 1S31, a mill was built at Whitney's rapids, below Point Pass, in what was then Indian territory. l!y 1S40, mills were in operation as high up as Pig Bull falls, and \\'ausau had a population of 350 souls. Up to 1S76, the jiroduct of the upper Wisconsin was all sent in raits to inarkets on tiie Mississippi. The river above Point Bass is a series of rapids and eddies; the current flows at tlie rate of from 10 to ro miles an hour, and it can well be imagined that the task of piloting a raft from \Vausau to the dells was no slight one. The cost ot that kind of transportation in the early time= was actually equal to the present market price of the lumber. With a good stage of water, the length of time required to run a raft to St. I.ouis was 24 d.iys, though quite frequently, owing to inal)ility to get out of the \Visconsm on one rise of water, several weeks were consumed. The amount of lumber manufactured annually on this river is from 140,000,000 to 200,000,000 feet.

Black river is much shorter and smaller than the Wisconsin, but h.is long been known as a very important lumljering stream. It is next to the oldest lumber tlistrict in the state. 'I'he first sau-niitl west of dreen Pay was built at Black River Falls in 1S19 by Col. John Shaw. The Winnebago tribe of Indians, b.owever, in whose territory he was, objected to the innovation -of such a fine art, and unc:eremoniously olTered up the mill upon tiie altar of tiieir outraged solitude. The owner abruptly quitted that portion of the country. In 1S39 another attempt to est.iLIisii a mill on llLick river was more successfully made. One was erected at the same point by two brothers by the name of Wood, tlie millwright being Jacob Spaulding, who eventually became its possessor. His son, Mr. IHiJIey J. Spaulding, is now a very e.xtensive operator upon Black, river. La Crosse is the chief manufacturing point, there being ten saw-mills located tlicre. The annual production of the stream ranges from 150,000,000 to 225,000,000 feet of logs, less than loo.coo.ooo feet being manufactured into lumber on its banks. The balance is sold in the log to mills on the Mississippi. It is a very capricious river to float logs in, which necessitates the carrying over from year to year of a very large amount, variously estimated at from 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 tect, about equal to an entire season's product. This makes the business more hazardous than on many otiier strean^s, as the loss from depreciation is very great after the first year. The tjualuy of the timber is fine, and good prices are realized for it when sold within a year after being cut.

The Chippewa district probably contaips the largest and finest bodv of white pine timber now standing, tributary to any one stream, on the continent. It has been claimed, though with more extravagance than truth, that the Chippewa pineries hold one-half the timber supply of the state. The river itself is a large one, and has many tributaries, v.'hich penetrate the rich pine district in all d.ircction^. The character of the tributan' countrv i> not unlike that through which the Wisconsin flows. In iSrSthe first mdl was built in the Chipiiewa valley, on Wilson's creek, iiear its confluence with tlie Red Cedar. Its site is now occupied by the village of Menomonee. In JS37 another was built 0:1 v.liat is tlie present site of the Un'.oii Lumbering Company's mill at Chippewa Falls. It was not until near 1S65 that the Chippewa became very pirominent as a lumber-making stream. Since that date it has 1,'een counted as one of tiie foremost in the northwest. Upon the river proper tiiere are twenty-two saw-iniUs, none having a capacity of less than 3,500,000 feet per season, and a number being capable of sawing from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 The annual production of sawed lumber is trom 25c.co^,ooc to 300,000,000 feet; the production of logs from 400,000,000 to 500,000,000 feet. In 1867 the miil-owners upon the Mississippi,, between Winona and Keokuk, organized a corporation known as the Eeef Slough Manufacturing, Log-Driving and Transportation Comi)any. Its object was to facilitate the handling of logs cut upon the Chippewa and its tributaries, designed for the Mississippi mills. At the confluence of the twij rivers various imiirovements were made, constituting the Beef Slough boom, which is capable of assorting 200,000,000 feet of logs per Si-ason. The Chippewa is the most difficult stream in the northwest upon which to operate. In the spring season it is turbulent and ungovernable, and in summer, almost liestitute of water, .\bout its head are numerous lakes which easily overflow under the influence of rain, and as their surplus water flows into the Chiipewa, its rises are sudden ar.d .-nmetimes damaging in their extent. ']"he river in many places flows between high bluffs, and, under the influence of a freshet, becomes a wild and unmanageable torrent. Logs have never been fl.j.ited in rafts, as u['on other streams, but are turned in loose, and are carried down will: each -.uc'.e--.ive rise, in a jumbled and confused mass, win lb, ent.iils mtich labor and loss 1:1 tiie w(..rk uf assorting an i delivering to the respective o\vi.er>. Previous to tl.e or.atu.tatt'jn of tb.e F..i::le Rapids blooding Dam and Room Company, in i'^72, the work of securing tiie stock alter putting it into the river was more difficult tlian to ct;t -.:;!l hatd it. .-Vt the cities of Enu Cin'.re and Chijjpewa l-'ails, wl;ere most of the mills are located, the current, under the influence of Itigh water, i^ very ra[)id, and for years the problem was, liow to stop and retain the logs, as th.ev would go by in great masses and with almost rcsistieis veloitity. In 1847 is recorded one of i;:e most sud'len and disastrous floods in the history c! iog-runiiiiig streams. In the motith of Jutie ilie Chip])ewa rose twelve feet in a single night.

and, in the disastrous torrent that wa> created, piers, booms, or " pockets " for holding logs at the mills, together with a fine new mill, were swept away, and the country below where Eau Claire now stands was covered with drift-wood, saw-logs, and other debris. Such occurrences led to the invention of the since famous sheer boom, which is a device placed in the river opposite the mill boom into which it is desired to turn the logs. The sheer boom is thrown diagonally across the river, automatically, the action of the current upon a number of ingeniously arranged "fins '' holding it in position. By this means the logs are sheered into the receptacle until it is filled, when the slicer boom, by closing up the " fins" with a windlass, falls back and allows the logs to go on for the next mill to stop and capture its pocket full in like manner. By this method each mill could obtain a stock, but a great difficulty was experienced from the fact that the supplv was composed of logs cut and O'.vned by everybody operating on the river, and the process of balancing accounts according to the '" maiks," at the close of the season, has been one prolific of trouble ar.d le^al entanglements. The building of improvements at Eagle Rapids by the company above mentioned remedied the difficulty to some extent, but the process of logging will al\va\s be a difncuh and hazardous enterprise until adequate means for holding and assorting the entire log product are provided. Upon the Yellow and Eau Claire rivers, two important branches oi the Chippewa, such difficulties are avoided by suitable improvements. The entire lumber product 'of the Chippewa, with the exception of that consumed locally, is floated in rafts to markets upon th.e Mississippi, between its mouth and St. Louis. The quality of the timber is good, and commands the best market price in the sections where it seeks market.

West of the Chippewa district the streams and timber are tributary to the St. Croix, and in all statistical calculatiuns tlie entire product of that river is credited to Minnesota, the same as that of the Menomonee is given to Michigan, when in fact about one half of each belongs to Wisconsin. The important branches of the St. Croix belonging in this state are the Apple Clam, Yellow, Namekogan, Totagatic and Eau Claire. The sections of country through which they flow contain large bodies of very fine pine timber. The St. Croix has long been noted for the excellence of it-, dimension timljer. Of this stock a jioriion is cut into lumber at Stillwater, and marketed by rail, and the balance is sold in the log to mills on the Mississippi.

Such is a brief and somewhat crude descrlpti.n of the main lumbering districts of the state. Aside from these, quite extensive operations are conducted upon various railway lines which penetrate the forest-, which are remote from log-running streams. In almost every county in the state, mills of greater or less capacity m,ay be found cutting up pine or hard-woods into luml.ier, shingles, or cooi>erage stock. Most important, in a lumbering point of ^iew, of all the railroads, is the Wisconsin Central. It extends from Milwaukee to Ashland, on Lake Superior, a distance of 351 miles, with a line to Green Ikiy, 113 miles, and one from Stevens Point to Portage, 71 niiles. making a total length of road, of 44Q miles. \\ has only been com[>leted to Ashland within llie last two years. From Milwaukee to Stevens Point it passes around to the east and north of Lake Winnebago, through an excellent hard-wood section. Th-ere are many stave mills in operation ujion ;iud tributary to its line, together with wooden-uare establishments and various manufactories requiring either iiard or soft limber as raw material. From Stevens Point northward, tins road passes through .md lias tributary to it one of the finest bodie-i of timber in the st.ite. It crosses the upper waters of Black river and tlie Flambeau, one of the main tributaries of tlie Chippewa. From 30.ccc.cc3 tu 50.000,000 feet of lumber is annually manufactured un its line, abi.)ve Stevens .Poir.t. The Wisconsin Valley railroad extends from Tomah to Wausau, and was built to alTord an outlet, by rail, for the lumber produced at the latter point.

is a subject upon which but little can be definitely said. Pine trees can not be counted or flK-asured- until reduced to saw-logs or lumber. It is certain that for twenty years the fiirests of \\'iscon3in have yielded large amounts of valuable timber, and no fears are entert.iined by holders of pme lands that the present generation of owners will witness an e.xhaustion of their supjily. In some sections it is estimated that the destruction to the standing timber by tires, which periodically sweep over large sections, is greater than by the axes of the loggers. The necessity for a state s_\ stem of forestrv, for the protection of the forests from fires, has been urged by many, and with excellent reason; for no natural resource of tlie state is of more value and importance than it-, wealth of timber. According to an estimate recently made liy a good authority, and wdiich received the sanction of many interested parties, there was standing in the state in 1S76, an amovmt of pine timber approximating 35,000,000,000 feet.

The annual production of lumber in the districts herein described, and from logs floated out of the state to mills on the Missi^sijini, is about r, 200,000, coo feet. The following table gives the mill capacity per season, and the lumber and shingles manufactured in 1S76:

If to the above is added the production of mills outside of the main districts and lines of railway herein described, the amount of pine lumber annually produced from Wisconsin forestswould reach 1,500,000,000 feet. Of the hard-wood production no authentic information is obtainable To cut the logs and pla< e them upon tht- banks of the streams, ready for floating to the mills' requires the labor of about i.S,ooo men. Allowing that, u]jon an average, each man has a familv of two persons besides himself, depenc!t.nt ui/on ius labor for support, it would be apparent that the first step in the work of manufacturing lumber gives employment and support to 54,000 persons. To convert 1,000.000 feet of logs into lumber, requires the consumption of 1,200 bushels of oats, 9 bariels of y.^ork and be. f, 10 tons of liay, 40 barrels of flour, and the use of 2 of horses. Thus the fitting out of tiie lo-gitig companies each fall makes a market for i.Soo.ooo bushels of oats, 13,500 barrels of j.ork and beef, 15,000 tons of hay, and 60,000 barrels ot flour. liefore the lumber is sent to market, fully §6,000,000 is expended for the labor employed in producing it. This industry, aside from furnishing the farmer of the west with the fiicapest .ind best of materials l"or cunstniriing his buildings, also furnishes a very important market for the jiroducts of bis farm.

I !-.e question of the exhaustion i.f the jjinc timber supply has met with much discussion .3uring the past lew years, and, so far as the fonsts of VVisconsin are concerned, deserves a brief notice. Tl'.e great source of sujijily cf white June Umber in the country is that portion of the northwest between the shores of I., ike Huron and the banks of the Mississippi, comprising the northern portions of the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. For a quarter of a century these fieUls have bctn worked by lumbermen, the amount of the yearly production having increased annually until it reached the enormous figure of 4,000,000,000 feet. With all of this tremendous drain upon the forests, there can be jiointed out but one or two sections that are actually exhausted. There are, however, two or three where the end can be seen and the date almost foretold. The pineries of Wisconsin have been drawn \ipon for a less period and less amount than those of Michigan, and, it is generally conceded, will outlast them at the present proportionate rate of cutting. There are many owners of jiine timber lands who laugh at the prospect of exh,auating their timl.icr, w-thin their lifetime. As time brings them nearer to the end, the labor of procuring tl;e logs, by reason of the distance of the timber from the water-courses, will increase, and the work will progress more slowly.

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

Banking In Wisconsin

Wisconsin was organized as a territory in 1S36, and the same year several acts were passed by the territorial legislature, incorjiorating banks of issue. Of tliese, one at Green Eay and anotlier at Mineral Point went into ojieration just in time to pl.iy their part in the great panic of 1S37. The bank at Green Pay soon failed and left its bills unredeemed. The bank at Mineral Point is said to have struggled a little longer, but both these concerns were short lived, and their issues were but a drop in the great ll;cd of worthless wild-cat bank notes that spread over the whole we:itern country in tb.at disastrous time. The sufferings of the people of Wisconsin, t"rom this cause, left a vivid iiii[)re3sion on their minds, which manifested its results in the legislation of the territory and in the constitution of the state adopted in 1S4S. So jealous were the legislatures ol the territory, of banks and all their works, that, in every act of incorporatior for any purpose, a clause was inserted to the effect that notiiing in the act contained should be taken to authorize the cor[<oratioii to assume or exercise any banking powers ; and this proviso was even added to acts incorporating church societies. For some years there can hardly be said to have been ar.y banking business done in the territory; merchants and business men were left to their own devices to make their exchanges, and every man was his own banker.

In the year iSyj an act was [lassed incorporating the " Wisconsiia Marine and Fire Insurance Company." of Milwaukee. This charter conferred on the corporation, in addition to the usual nowers of a fire and marine insurance company, the privilege of reccizui:; ikposils, issuing certificcitis of dt'posit -xwA lending money, - and wound up with the usual pirohibition from doing a banking business. This company commenced business at once under the management of George Smith as president'and Alexander Mitchell as secretary. The receiving deposits, issuing certificates of deposit and lending money, soon outgrew and overshadowed the insurance branch of the institution, which accordingly gradually dried up In fact, the certificates of deposit had all the appearance of ordinary bank notes, and served the purposes of an excellent currency, being always prompt! v redeemed in coin on demand. (Ir. '.dually these issues attained a great circulation all tlirough the west, as the people gained more and inore confidence in the honesty and ability of the managers ; and though '" runs " were several times made, yet being successfully met, the public finally settled down into the belief that the.e bills were good bej-ond question, so that the amount in circulation at one time, is said, Oii good authority, to have been over $2,000,000.

As tJK- general government required specie to be paid for all lands bought of it, the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance comjiany, by redemption of its " certificates of deposit," furnished a large pirt of the coin needed for use at the Milwaukee land office, and more or less for purchases at land ot'fices iir other parts of the state, and its issues were of course much in request for this purpose For many years this institution furnished the main banking facilities for the business men of the territorj- and young state, in the way of discounts and e.\change<. Its ricrht to carry on the operations it was engaged in, under its somewhat dubious and inconsistent charter, was often questioned, and, in 1S5:'. under the administration of Governor Farwell, .some steps were taken to test the matter; but as the general banking law had then been passed by the leeislature, and was about to be submitted to the people, and as it was understood that the company organi/e as a bank under the law. if approved, the legal proceedings were not pressed. ^Vhile this eorjvjration played so important a part in tlie financial history and commercial development of Wisconsin, the writer is not aware of any available statistics as to the amount of business transacted by it before it became merged in the "^\'isconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's bank."

In iS.[7, the foundation of the preser.t well-known firm of Marshall & Ilsley was laid by Samuel Marshall, who, in that year, opened a [jrivate banking office in Milwaukee, and was joined in 1S49 bv Charles F. Ilslev. Tills concern has alw.iy^ held a prominent position among the lianking institution.-^ of our state. .About this time, at Mineral Point, Washburn &: Woodman (C. C. Washburn and Cyrus Woodman) engaged in private banking, as a part of their business. .\fter some vears they were succeeded by Wm. T. Henry, who still continues the banking office. the early [irivate bankers oi the state were Mr. Kellogg, of Oshkosh ; Ulmann and Bell, of Kacii.e ; and T. C. Shove, of Manitowoc.' The latter siill continues his business, while that of the otlier urms has '. een wound up or merged in organized banks.

In 1S4S, Wisconsin ad''ptcd a state constitution. This constitution prohibited the legislature fronl incoriiorating banks and from i:onferring banking jiowcrs on .my cor[ioration; but provided the question of "banks or no lianks " niigitt h\i submitted to a vote \di the electors, and, if the decision sliould be in favor of banks, then the legislature might charter banks or might enact a general banking law, but no such ipeci.il charter or general banking law should have any force until submitted to the electors at a general election, and approved by a majority of votes cast on that subject. In 1S51, the legislature submitted this question to the people, and a majority of the votes were cast in favor of " banks."' Accordingly the legislature, in 1S52, made a general banking law, wliich was submitted to the electors in Xoveni'ier of that year, and was approved by them. This law was very similar to the free banking law of the state of Xew York, which had then been in force about fifteen years, and was generallv approved in tiiat state. Our law authorized any number of individuals to form a corporate association for banking purposes, and its main provisions were intended to provide security for the circulating r.<'res,by deposit of state and United States stocks or bonds with the state treasurer, so that tlie bill Iiolders should sustain no loss in case of the failure of the banks. Provision was made for a bank comptroller, whose main duty it was to see that countersigned circulating notes were issued to banks only in proper amounts for the securities deposited, and upon compliance with tire law, and that the banks kept these securities good.

The first banks organized under the new law were the " State Bank," established at Madison by Marshall &: Il^ley, and the " Wisconbin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's Bank," established at Milwaukee under the old management of that company. These banks both went intooperation early in January, 1S53, and, later in that year, the '" State Bank of Wisconsin " (now Milwaukee National Bank of Wisconsin), and the '' Farmer>' and Millers' Bank " (now First National Bank of .Milwaukee), were established, followed in January, 1S54, by the "Bank of Milwaukee " (now National E-xchange Bank of Milwaukee). From this time forward banks were rapidly established at difterent points through the state, until in July, 1S57, they numbered si.xty - with aggregate capital, §4,205,000; deposits, $3,920,238; and circulation, $2,231,829. In October, the great revulsion and panic of 1S57 came on, and in its course and effects tried pretty severely the new banks in Wisconsin. Some of them succumbed to the pressure, but most of them stood the trial well.

The great source of loss and weakness at that time was found in the rapid decline of the market value of the securities deposited to protect circulation, which wc-re mostly state bonds, and largely those of the southern states; so that tliis securit}, when it came to be tried, did not prove entirely sufficient. Another fault of the system, or of the practice under it, was developed at this time. It was t'ound that many of the banks had been set up without actual workingcapital, merely for the purpose of issuing circulating notes, and were located at distant and inaccessible points in what was then the great northern wilderness of tiie state ; so that it was expensive and in fact impracticable to present their issues for redemption. A\'hile these evils and their remedies were a good deal discussed among bankers, the losses and inconveniences to the people were not yet great enough to lead to the adoption of thorough and complete measures of reform. The effort of these difficulties, however, waa to bring the bankers of the slaie into the habit of consulting and acting together in cases of emergency, the first bankers' convention havi^g been held iri 1S57. This was followed by others from time to ti.ne, and it would lie difficult to overvalue the great good tliat has resulted, at several important crises from the liar, :.onious and conservative action of the bankers of our state. Partly, at least, upon tiieir recommendations the legishuure, in 1S5.S, adopted amendments to tile banking law, providing that no bank sliould be located in a township containing le>> th.m two hundred inhaliitants ; and tiiat the comptroller should not issuecirculating notes, excei't to hanks doing a regular discount deposit and exchange business in some inliabited town, vi'l.ige, city, or where the ordinary Inisiness of inhabited towns, villages and cities was carried on. These amendments were approved by tiie [)eople at the fall

Banking matter-; now ran alon;^- pretty smoothly until the election in iSGo, of the rciiublican presidential ticket, and the conse'iucnt agitation in the southern states threatening civil war, the effects of wiiich were speedily felt; first, i;; the great depreciation of tiie bonds of tile bouthern states, and then in a less decline in tiio>e of the northern states. At this time (taking the statement of July, iS6o,) tlie number of banks was 104, with aggregate ca[iital, $1,547,000; circulation, $4,075,918; depo-,its. S.v-i'^j-S--

During the winter following, there was a great deal of uneasiness in regard to our state currency, and CO itiriuous demand upon our banks for the redemjjtion of their circulating notes in coin. Many banks of the wild-cat sort failed to redeem their notes, winch became depreciated and unciirrent; and, wlien the rebellion came to a head l>y the fiiiiig on Fort Sumter, thebanking interests of the state were threatened v.itli destructii^n by compulsory winding up and enforced sale at the panic jirlces tlien prevailine, of the securities deposited to secure circulation. Under these circumstances, on t!ie 17111 of April, 1061, the lcgi--lature passed "an act to protect the holders of the circulating notes of the authorized ban!>3 of the state of Wisconsin." As the banking law could not be amended except by app'oval of the electors, by vote at a general election, a practical suspension of specie payment had to be effected by indirect methods. So this act first directed the bank comptroller to susiiend all action toward banks for failing to redeem tlieir circulation. Secondly, it i)rohibited notaries public from protesting bills of banks untd Dec 1, 1S61. Thirdly, it gave banks until that date to answer complaints in any proceeding to compel s[iecle payment of circid.'.ting notes. This same legislature also amended the banking law, to cure (U_-fects that had been develojied in it. These amendments were intended to facilitate the presentation and prote-t of circulating notes, and the winding u[) of banks failing to redeem them, and provided tliat the bank comiitroller should not issue circulating notes except to banks having actual cash capil il; on which [lO'.nl he was to take evidence in all cases; that after Dec. i, iSOi, all banks of the slate should redeem their issues cither at .Madison or Milw.iLikee, and no bonds or stocks sIioulJ be received as security for circulation e.\cept tliose of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin.

Specie payment of bank bills was then, practically suspended, in our state, from April 17 to December i, 1S61, and tiiere was no longer any pla;n practical test for determining which were good, and which not. In this cor;d;tion ot tilings, bankers met in convention, and, atter discussion and inquiry as to the condition and resources of the different banks, put forth a list of those whose issues were to be considered carrent and bankable. IJat things grew worse, and it was evident that the list contained banks th.it would never be able to redeeni their circulation, and the issues of such were from time to lime liirown out and discredite>.l without anv concert of action, so that the uneasiness of people in regard to the financial situation was greatly increased. The bankers finally met, gave liie banks .iitolher sifling, and put forth a list of seventy banks. circulating notes lliey pledged tliemselves to re<;eive, and pay out as current, until December I. 'I'here had been so many ciianges th.it this pledge was thoug'it necessary to allay the apprchensioas of the pul'lic. D ;t matters still grew worse instead of belter. Some of the banks i;. tiie current "' list closed their doors to their depositor.s, and others were evidently u:;souhd, and tlie;r circi,hilio:i so insufiieiently secured as lo make it certain that it would never be redeemed. There was more or less sorting of the currency, both b\' banks and business men, all over the state, in ihe endeavor to keep the best and jjay out tlie poorest. In this state of things, some of llie -Milwaukee banks, wiihout concert of action, and acting under the a[>prehension 01 beir.g loaded u;) wiiii tiie ve;v Worst of tile currency, which, it \ias feared, the country L.i^nks ar.d mercbants werc^ sorting out and sending to Milwaukee, revised ihe list again, and tlirew out ten of tlic seventy banks whose issues it IkuI been a-reed should be received as current. Other banks and bankers were compelled to take tlie same course to protect themselves. The conseqaence was a great disturbance of the public mind, and violent charges" of bad faith on the [lart of the banks, which culminated in the barik riots of June 24, 1S61. On that day, a crowd of several hundred disorderly people, starting out most probably only with the idea of making some sort of demonstration of their dissatisfaction with the action of the banks and bankers and with tlie failure to keep faith with the public, marched through the streets with El band of music, and I'tought up at the corner of Michigan and Eciai Water streets.

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

The damage so far done was not great in amount, and the danger for the moment was over; but the situation was still grave, as the city was full of threats, disturbance and aijprehension. Tly the prompt action of the authorities, a number of companies of volunteers were brought from different places in the state, order was preserved, and, after muttering for three or four days, liie storm died away. The effect of that disturbance and alarm was, however, to bring home to the l)ankers and business men the conviction that effectual measures must be taken to settle our slate currency matters on a sound and permanent basis, and that the issues ot all banks thai could not be put in sliafie to meet s[)ecie payment in I 'ecember, must be retired from circulation and be got out of the way. -\ meeting of the bankers was held; also of the merchants' associaticm of Milwaukee, and arrangements were made to raise §100,000, by these two bodies, to be used in a .sibling weak and crippled banks in securing or retiring their circulation. The banker. appi'Iiited a committee to take the matter in charge.

It hapiiened that just at this time Ciovernor Randall and Slate Treasurer Hastings returned fruiii New York City, v.iiere they had been making unsuccessful elii-irts tu dispose of $Soo,ooo '-{ \\'L-(onsin war boiaU, which had been ia^ued to raise funds to fit oul Wisconsin \oiinUeers.

Our state had never had any bonds on the eastern market. For other reasons, our credit was not high in Xew \'ork, and it had been founrj impossible to disjiose ot ihe^e bonds for over sixty cents on the dollar. The state ot'ticers conferred with the bankers to see what cou'd be done at home; and it was finally arranged that the bankers' committee should undertake tr> get the state banks to dispose of their southern and otiier deiuecuUed state bonds on deposit .to secure circuLitiDii. for what they -.vouhi bring in coin, in Xew York, and rejilace these bonds with those of our own state,. which were to be tatcen by our banks nominally at par - seventy percent, being paid in cash, and the different banks purchasing bonds, giving their individual obligation for the thirty per cent, balance, to be paid in semi-annual installments, with an agreement that the state should deduct these installments from the interest so long as these bonds should remain on deposit with the state. By the terms of the law, si.xty per cent, of tlie proceeds of the bonds had to be paid in coin. The hankers' committee went to work, and with some labor and difhculty induced most of the banks to sell their southern securities at the existing low prices in New York, and thus produce the coin required to pay fur our state bonds. P'rom the funds provided by tiie merchants 'and bankers, they assisted many of the weaker banks to make good their securities with the banking department of the state. By the 19th of July, six of the ten rejected banks that had been the occasion of the riot, were made good, and restored to the list. The otiier four were wound up, and their issues redeemed at par, and, before the last of August, the value of the securities of all the banks on the current list were brought up to their circulation, as shown by the comptroller's report.

\Visconsin currency at the time of the bank riot was at a discount of about 15 per cent., as compared with gold or New York exchange. At the middle of July the discount was 10 to 12 per cent , and early in August it fell to 5 per cent. The bankers' committee continued their work in jjreparatiun for the resumption of sjiecie jiaymcnt on December i. ^VhiIe the securities for the bank circulation had been made good, it was, nevertheless, evident that many of the banks on the current list would not be equal to the continued redemption of their bills in specie, and that they would have to be wound up and got out of the way in season. Authority was got from such institutions, as fast as possible, for the bankers' committee to retire their circulation and sell their securities. The Milwaukee banks and bankers Ioo'k. upion themselves the great burden of this bu.siness, having arranged among themselves to sort out and withhold from circulation the bills of these banks, - distributing the load among themselves in certain defined proportions. Instead of paying out these doubted bills, the different banks brought to the bankers' committee such amounts as tliey accumulated from time to time, and received from the comniittee certificates of deposit bearing seven jier cent, interest, and these bills were locked up by the committee until the securities for these notes could be sold and tlie proceeds realized. Over $500,000 of this sort of paper was locked up by the committee at one time ; but_ it was all converted into ea^h, and, when the fir-it of December came, the remaining l)aiiks of this state were ready to redeem tlieir issues in gold or its equivalent, and so continued to redeem until the issue of the legal-tender notes and the general suspension of specie payment in the United States.

By the contraction incident to the preparations for redemption in specie, the amount of current Wisconsin bank notes outstanding December i, iS6i,was reduced to about $1,500,000. When that day came, there w-as quite a disposition manifested to convert Wisconsin currency into coin, and a sharp financial [>inch was felt for a few days ; but as the public became satisfied that the banks were pre[iared to meet t'le demand, the call for redemption rapidly fell off, and the I'anks soon began to exjiand tlieir circulation, which ^vas now current and in good demand all through tiic northwestern states. The amount saved to all the interests of our state, by this successful effort to save o\\: banking system from destruction, is lieyond computation. From this time our banks ran along quietly until prohibitory taxation by act ot congress drove the bills of state banks out of circulation.

The national banking law was passed in 1S63, and a few hanks were soon organised under it in different parts of the country. The first in AVisconsin was formed by the re-organization of the Farmers' and Millers' Bank, in August, 1S63, as the First National Bank of Milwaukee, with Edward D. Ilolton as president, and H. H. Camp, cashier. The growth of the new system, however, was not very rapid; the state banks were slow to avail themselves of the privileges of the national banking act, and the central authorities concluded to compel them to come in ; so lacilities were offered for their re-organization as national banks, and then a tax of ten per cent. was laid upon the issues of the state banks. Tins ta.x was imposed by act of March, 1S65, and at once caused i commotion in our state. In July, 1S64, the number of Wisconsin state banks was sixty-six, with capital ^3.147,000, circulation $2,461,7 ?S, deposits ¥5,483,205, and these figures were probably not very different in the spring of 1S65. The securities for the circulating notes were in great part the bonds of our own state, which, while known bv' our own people to be good be}ond question, had never been on the general markets of the country so as to be currently known there ; and it was feared that in the hurried retirement of our circulation these bonds would be sacrificed, the currency depreciated, and great loss brought upon our banks and people. There was some excitement, and a general call for the redemption of our state circulation, but the banks mostly met the run well, and our people were disposed to stand by our own state bonds.

In April, 1861, the legislature passed laws, calling in the mortgage loans of the school fund, and directing its investment in these securities. The state treasurer was required to receive Wisconsin bank' notes, not only for taxes and debts due the state, but also on deposit, and to issue certificates for such deposits bearing seven per cent, interest. liy these and like means the threatened panic was stopped; and in the coiirse of a fev.- months Wisconsin state currency was nearly all withdrawn from circulation. In July, 1S65, the number of state banks was twenty-six, with capital $r, 087, 000, circulation $192,323, deposits §2,2S4,2to. Under the _ pressure put on by congress, the organization of national banks, and especially the re-organization of state banks, under the national system, was proceeding rapidly, and in a short time nearly every town in our own state of much size or importance was provided with one or more of these institutions.

In the great panic of 1873, all the Wisconsin banks, both state and national (in common with those of the whole countr\), were severely tried; but the failures were few and unimportant ; and ^^'i5consin went through that ordeal with less loss and disturbance than almost any other state.

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

According to the last report of the comptroller of the currency, the number of national banks in Wisconsin in November, 1876, was forty, with capital $3,400,000, deposits $7,145,360, circulation $2,072,869.

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

Coaimerce And Manufactures

The material pjiilosojihy of a people has to do with the practical and useful. It sees in iron, coal, cotton, wool, grain and the trees of the forest, the elements of personal comfort and sources of material greatness, and i^ applied to their development, production and fabrication for pur[)Ose» of exchange, interchange and sale. Tiie early immigrants to Wisconsin territory found a land teeming witli unsur[)a-seJ natural advantages; prairies, timber, water and minerals, inviting the farmer, n.iner and lumberman, to come and build houses, furnaces, mills and factories. The first settlers were a food-producing people. The prairies and openings were ready for the plow. The ease with whirh farms were brought under cultivation, readily enabled the pioneer to supply the food necessary for himself and family, while a surplus was often produced in a fewmonths. The hardships so often encountered in tlie settlement of a new country, where forests must be felled and stumiis removed to prepare the soil for tillage, were scarcely know-n,or greatly mitigated.

iJuring the decade from 1S35 to 1845,^0 great were the demands for the products of the soil, created b) the tide of emigration, that the settlers found a home market for all their surplus ]irodacts, and so easil\' were croii:^ grown that, within a very brief time after the jirst emigration, but little was reijuired I'rom abroad. The commerce of the country was carried on by the exchange of products. The settlers (they could scared)' be called farmers) would exchange their wheat, corn, oats and pork for the goods, wares and fabrics of the village merchant. It was an age of barter; but they looked at the cai)al>ilities of the land they had come to possess, and, with firm faith, saw bright promises of better days in the building up of a great state.

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

lew states in the Union possess within their borders so many, and in such abundance, elements that contribute to the material pro>perit}- of a peoiilc. Its soil of unsurpassed fertility; its inexhaustible mines of lead, copper, 7inc and iron; its almost boundless forests ; il^ water-powers, sufficient to drive the machinery of the world ; its long line^ of lake shore on tuo sides, and the " Father of water^ " on another, - need but enterprise, energy and capital to utilize them in building an emj:ire of wealth, where the hum of varied^industries shall be heard in the music of the sickle, the loom and the anvil.

'I'hc growth of manufacturing industries was slow during tlie first twenty-five years of our hi^liiry. 'I'he earl)' settler^ were poor. Frei|uentl\- the land they tilled was pledged to obtain me.ms to pay foi it. rajjitalists obtained from twenty to thirty pier cent, per annum for the use ol their money. Indeed, it was the rule, under the free-trade ideas of the money-lenders for tluni to pl.iy tile Sh^loik. ^\ bile investments in bondh and inoiigages were so profitable, few wer'; rcifU to improve the natural advantages the country presented for building factories and work-shops.

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

The northwest was visited and explored by French voyagcurs and missionaries from Canada at an early day. The object of the former was trading and gain. The Jesuits, ever zealous in the propagation' of their religion, went forth into the unknown wilderness to convert the natives to their faith. As early as 16^4, they were operating about Lake Huron and Mackinaw. Father Men.ird it is related, was with the Indians on Lake Superior as early as 1661. The early explorers were of two classes, and were stimulated by two widely different motives - the roya^- nirs, by the love of gain, and the missionaries, by their zeal in the propagation of their faith. Previous to 1679, a considerable trade in furs had sprung up with Indian tribes in the vicinity of Mackinaw and the northern p.irt of " Ouisconsin." In that year more than two hundred canoes, laden with furs, passed Mackinaw, bound for Montreal. The whole commerce of this vast region then traversed, was carried on with birch-baik canoes. The French used them in traversing wilds - otherwise inaccessible by reason of floods of water at one season, and ice and snow at another - also lakes and morasses which interrupted land journeys, and rapids and cataracts that cut off communication b) water. This little vessel enabled them to overcome all difficulties. Being buoyant. It rode the waves, although heavily freighted, and, of light draft, it permitted the traversing of small streams. Its weight was so light that it could be easily carried from one stream to another, and around rapids and other obstructions. \\\i\\ this little vessel, the fur trade of the northwest was carried on, as well as the interior of a vast continent explored. Under the stimulus of commercial enterprise, the French traders penetrated the recesses of the immense forests whose streams were the home of the beaver, the otter and the mink, and in whose depths were found the martin, sable, ermine, and other fur-bearing animals. .V vast trade in furs sprung up, and was carried on by different agents, under authority of tiie French government.

When the military possession of the northwestern domain passed from the government of France to that of Great Britain in 1760, the relationship of the fur trade to the government changed. The government of France had controlled the traffic, and made it a means of strengthening its hold upon the country it possessed. The policy of Great Britain was, to charter companies, and grant them exclusive privileges. The Hudson bay company had grown rich and powerful between 1670 and 1760. Its success had excited the cupidity of capitalists, and rival organizations were formed. The business of the conqviny had been done at their trading-stations - the natives bringing in their furs for exchange and barter. Other companies sent their voyageurs into every nook and corner to traffic with the trappers, avA even to catch the fur-bearing animals themselves. In the progress of time, private parties engaged in trapping and dealing in furs, and, under the competition created, the business became less profitable. In 1S15. congress passed an act prohibiting foreigners from dealing in furs in the Ignited States, or any of its territories. This action was obtained through the influence of John Jacob Astor. Mr. Astor organized the .-Vmerican fur company in iScg, and afterward, in connection with the Northwest company, bought out the Mackinaw company, and the two were merged in the Southwest company. The association was susi>endcd by the war of iSr2. The American re-entered the field in 1S16. The fur trade is still an impKjrtant branch of traftlc in the northern part of the state, and, during eight months of the year, employs a large number of men.

In 1824, the lead ore in the southwestern part of Wisconsin began to attract attention. From 1S26 to 1830, tliere was a great rush of min^-rs to this region, somewhat like tlie Pike's Peak excitement at a later date. The lead-producing region of ^Visconsin covers an area of about 2,200 square miles, and embraces parts of Grant, Iowa and La Fayette counties. Between 1S29 and 1839, the production of lead increased from 5,000 to 10,000 tons. After the latter 3'ear it rose rapidly, and attained its ma.ximum in 1S45, when it reached nearly 25,000 tons. Since that time the production has decreased, although still carried on to a considerable extent.

The sulphate and carbonate of zinc abound in great quantities v.ith the lead of southwest Wisconsin. Owing to the difficulty of working this class of ores, it was formerly allowed to accumulate about the mouths of the mines. \\'ithin a few years past, metallurgic processes have been so greatly improved, that the zinc ores have been largely utilized. At La Salle, in the state of Illinois, there are three establishments for smelting zinc ores. There is also one at Peru, 111. I'd smelt zinc ores economically, they are taken where cheap fuel is available. Hence, the location of these works in the vicinity of coal mines. The works mentioned made in 1S75, from ores mostly taken from Wisconsin, 7,510 tons of zinc. These metals are, therefore, important elements in the commerce of Wisconsin.

The iron ores of -Wisconsin occur in immense beds in several localities, and are destined to prove of great value. From their product in 1S63, there were 3,735 tons of pig iron received at Milwaukee; in 1S65, 4,785 tons; in 1S6S. 10.S90 tons. Of the latter amount, 4,648 tons were frum the iron mmes at Mayville. I'here were shipped from Milwaukee, in 1S6S, 6,361 tons of l<ig iron. There were also received 2,500 tons of ore from the Dodge county ore beds. During 1S69. the ore beds at Iron Ridge were developed to a considerable extent, and two large blast furnaces constructed in Milwaukee, at which place there were 4,695 tons of ore received, and 2,059 tons v.-ere shipiped to Chicago and Wyandotte. In 1S70, 112,060 tons of iron ore were received at Milwaukee, 95.000 tons of which were from Iron Ridge, and 17,060 tons from Escanaba and Marquette, in Michigan. The total product of the mines at Iron Ridge in 1S71 was 82,284 tons. The Milwaukee iron company received by lake, in the same year, 28,094 tons of Marcpiette iron ore to mix with the former in making railroad iron. In 1S72, there were receivea from Iron Ridge 85,245 tons of ore, and 5,620 tons of pig iron. Much of the metal made by the Wisconsin iron company in 1872 was shippied to St. Louis, to mix with the iron made from Missouri ore.

The j^Iihvaukee iron company, during the year 1S72, entered into the manufacture of merchant iron - it having been demonstrated that the raw material could be reduced there cheaper than elsewhere. The Minerva furnace company built also during the same year one of the most compnct and comjiletc iron furnaces to be found any where in the country. During the year 1873, the iron, -with most other material interests, became seriously prostrated, so that the total receipts of ore in Milwaukee in 1S74 amounted to only 31,993 tons, against 69,418 in 1S73, and 85,245 tons in 1S72. There were made in Milwaukee in 1874, 29,680 tons of railroad iron. In 1S75, 58,868 tons of ore were received at Milwaukee, showing a revival of the trade in an increase of i9,7'S6 tons over the previous year. The operation of the works at Bay View having suspended, the receipts of ore in 1S76, at Milwaukee, were less than during any year since 1869, being only 31,119 tons, of which amount only 5,488 tons were from Iron Ridge, and the total shipments were only 49S tons.

The business of lumbering holds an important rank in the commerce of the state. For many years the ceaseless hum of the saw and the stroke of the ax have been heard in all our great forests. The northern portion of the state is characterized by evergreen trees, principally pine; the southern, by hard-woods. There are exceptional localities, but this is a correct statement of the general distribution. I think that, geologically speaking, the evergreens belong to the primitive and sandstone regions, and the hard wood to the limestone and clay formations. Northern Wisconsin, so called, embraces that portion of the state north of forty-five degrees, and possesses nearly all the valuable pine forests. The most thoroughly developed portion of this region is that lying along the streams entering into Green bay and Lake Michigan, and bordering on the Wisconsin river and other streams entering into the Mississippi. Most of the pine in the immediate vicinity of these streams has lieen cut off well toward their sources; still, there are vast tracts covered with dense forests, r.ot accessible from streams suitable for log-drivi:ig purposes. The l)uilding of railroads into these forests will alone give a market value to a large portion of the pine timber there growing. It is well, perhaps, that this is so, for at the present rate of consumption, but a few years will elapse before these noble forests will be totally destroyed. Most of the lumber manufactured on the rivers was formerly taken to a market by being floated down the streams in rafts. Now, the railroads are transporting l.irge quantities, taking it directly from the mills and unloading it at interior points in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, and some of it in eastern cities. From five to eight thousand men are employed in the pineries in felling the trees, sawing them into logs of suitable length, and hauling them to the mills and streams during ever}- winter in times of fair pirices and fa\orable seasons. The amount of lumber sawed in 1S60, as carefully er>timateil, was 35',o5^,It5 feet. The amount uf shingles made was 2,272,061, and no account was made of the immense number of logs tloated out of the state, for manufacture into lumber elsewhere. The amount of logs cut in the winter of 1S73 and 1S74 was 987,000,000 feet. In 1S76 and i.'s7 7 the Black river furnished 188,344,464 feet. The Chippewa, 90,000,000; the Red Cedar, 57,000,000. There passed through Beef Slough 129.384,000 leet of logs. Hon. .\. H. Katon, for fourteen receiver of the United Stales lanil ortice at Stevens Point, estimated the acreage (;f pine lands in his district at 2, coo, 000, and, taking his own district as the basis, ho estimated the whole state at .S, 000. 000 acres. Reckoning this at 5.000 feet to the acre, the aggregate pine timber of the state would be 40,000,000,000 feet. The log prodtict annually amounts to an immense sum. In 1.S76. 1,172,611,823 feet were cut. This is about the average annual draft that is ni.ide on the jiinc lands. There seems to be no remedy for the wholesale destruction of our pine forests, except the one alluded to, the ditticulty of transportation, and this will probabl}' save a portion of them fur a long time in the future. At the rate of consumption for twenty years past, we can estimate that fifty years would see northern Wisconsin denuded of its pine forests; but our lumber product has reached its maximum, and will probably decrease in the coming years as tlic distance to be hauled to navigable streams increases. In the mean time lumber, shingles and lath will form an important factor in our commerce, both state and inter-state, and will contribute inilllous to the wealth of our citizens.

Up to 1841, no grain was exported from 'Wisconsin to be used as food; but, from the time of Its first settlement in 1S36 to 1S40, the supply of bread stuffs from abroad, upon which the jieople depended, was gradually diminished by the substitution of home products. In the winter of 1S40 and 1841, E. D. Holton, of Milwaukee, purchased a small cargo of wheat (about 4,000 bushels), and in tb.e spring of 1S41, shipped it to Buffalo. This was the beginning of a traffic that has grown to immense propKsrtions, and, since that time, wheat has formed the basis of the commerce and prosperity of the state, until the city of Milwaukee has become the greatest primary wheat marl of the world.

Wheat Cor.N'

Up to 1S56, the sliipnicnli were almost wholly of Wisconsin products ; but with the completion of lines of railroad from Milwaukee to the Mississippi river, tlie commerce of Wisconsin became so interwoven with that of Iowa and Minnesota, that the data furnished by the transportation companies, give us no definite figures relating to the products of our own state.

Wisconsin is becoming largely interested in the dairy business. Its numerous springs, streams, and natural adaptability to grass, make it a fine grazing country, and stock thrives remarkably well. Within a few years, cheese-factories have become numerous, and their owners are meeting with excellent success. Wisconsin cheese is bringing the highest price in the markets, and much of it is shipped to England. Butter is also made of a superior quality, and is extensively e.xported. At the rate of jirogress made during the last few years, ^Visconsin will soon take rank with the leading cheese and butter producing states. The counties most largely interested in dairying, are Kenosha, Walworth, Racine, Rock, Green, Waukesha, Winnebago, Sheboygan, Jefferson and Dodge. According to estimates by experienced dairymen, the manufacture of butter was 22,473,000 pounds in 1S70; 50,130,000 in 1S76; of cheese, 1,591,000 pounds in 1S70, as against 17,000,000 in 1S76, which will convey a fair idea of the increase of dairy production. The receipts of cheese in Chicago during 1S76, were 23,7 So, 000 pounds, against 12,000,000 in 1S75 ; and the receipts of butter were 35,384,184, against 30,248,247 pounds in 1S75. ^^ is estimated that fully one-half of tiieso receipts were from Wisconsin. The receipts of butter in .Milwaukee were, in 1S70, 3,779,rr.i pounds; in 1S75, 6.625,863; in 1876,8,938,137 pounds; ot cheese, 5,721,279 pounds in 1S75, and 7,055,573 in 1S76. Cheese is not mentioned in the trade and commerce reports of ?\lilwaukee until 1S73, when it is spoken of as a new and rapidly increasing commodity in the productions of the state.

Improved breeds, both of swine and cattle, have been introduced into the state during a few years past. The grade of stock has been rapidl}' bettered, and stock raisers generally are striving with commentlable ze.d tu rival each other in raising the finest of animals for use and the market. -

Beef

The culture of hops, as an article af conunercc, received but little attention prior to i860. In 1S65, 2,864 bales only were shipped from Milwaukee. In addition, a large amount was u.sed by the brewers througuout the state. In 1S66, the amount exported was increased, and 5,774 bales were shipped to eastern markets. The price, from forty-five to fifty-fivc cents per pound, stimulated piroduction, and the article became one of the staple products of the counties of Sauk, f'olumbia, Adams and Juneau, besides being largely cultivated in parts of some other counties. In 18^.7, 26,562 bales were received at Milwaukee, and the prices ranged from fifty to seventy cents per pound. The estimated crop of the state for 1S67 was 35,000 bales, and brought over §4,200,000. In 1S6S, not less than Co.ooo b.nles v,-ere grown in the state. The crop everywhere was a large one, and in Wisconsin so very large that an over-supply was anticipated. But few, however, v,-ere prepared for th'j decline in prices, that far exceeded the worst apprehensions of tluise interested. The first sales were made at twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound, and the [-rices were reluctanlly acce[ited by the growers. The price continued to decline until the article was unsalable and unavailable in the market. Probably the average price did not e.xceed ten cents per pound. Notwithstanding the severe check which hop-growing received in 1868, l.iy the unprofitable result, growers were not discouraged, and the crop of 1.869 was a large one. So much of the croi) of iS68 remained in the h.ands of the growers, that it is impossible to estimate tiiat of 1S69. The new croji sold for from ten to fifteen cents, and the old for from three to five cents l.er jhjund. Hop-cultivation received a check from over-production in 1S6S, Irom which it did not sLKjn recover. .\ large proportion of the \.irds were jilowed under in 1870. The crop of 1S69 w.is much of it m.ivketed daring 1870, at .i price of about two and one-half to three and onehaif cents i)er jiound, while that of 1870 brought ten to twelve and a half cents. During the year 1871, a great advance in the price, caused by the partial failure of the crop in some of the eastern st.ites. and liie decrease in price causing a decrease in production, wha; w.is left over of the crop of 1870 more than doubled in value before the new reached the market. Tlie latter opened at thirty cents, and steadily rose to fifty and fifty-five for prime qualiticb. The crop of 1S72 was of good quaHty, and the market opened at forty to fifty-five cents as the selling price, and fell fifteen to twenty cents before the close of the year. A much larger "quantity was raised than the year previous. In 1S73 and 1S74, the crop was fair and prices ruled from thirty-three to forty-five cents, with increased production. About 18,000 bales were reported as being shipped from the different railway stations of the state. Prices were extremely irregular during 1S75, and, after the new crop reached market, fell to a point that would not pay the cost of production. In 1876, prices ruled low at the opening of the year, and advanced from five to ten cents in January to twenty-eight to thirty in November. Over 17,000 bales were received at Milwaukee, over 10,000 bales being of the crop of the previous year. Over 13.000 bales were shipped out of the state.

ToE.-vcco. Tobacco raising is comparatively a new industry in Wisconsin, but is rapidly growing m importance and magnitude. It sells readily for from four to ten cents per pound, and the plant is easily raised. It is not regarded as of superior quality. It first appears as a commodity ot transportation in the railway reports for the year iS7i,-when the Prairie du Chien division of the St. Paul road m.oved eastward 1,373,650 pounds. During the four years ending with

1876, there were shipped from Milwaukee an average of 5,118,330 pounds annually, the naximum being in 1874,6,982,175 pounds; the minimum in 1S75, 2,743,854 ^pounds. The crop of 1S76 escaped the early frosts, and netted the producer from five to seven cents per pound. 1 he greater part of it was shipped to Baltimore and Philadelphia. Comparatively little of the leaf raised in the state is used here or by western manufacturers. The crop of the present year,

The cranberry trade is yet in its infancy. But little, comparatively, has been done in developing the capabilities of the extensive bodies of marsh and swamp lands interspersed throughout the northern part of the state. Increased attention is being jiaid to the culture of the fruit; yet, the demand will probably keep ahead of the supply for many years to come. In 1S51, less than 1,500 barrels v.-ere sent out of the state. In 1S72, the year of greatest production, over 37.0C0 barrels were exported, and, in 1S76, about 17,000 barrels. The price has varied in different years, and taken a range from eight to fifteen dollars a barrel.

The production of liquors, both spirituous and malt, has kept pace with the growth of iwpulation and with the other industries of tiie state. There were in Wisconsin, in 1872, two hundred and ninety-two breweries and ten distilleries. In 1S76, there were two hundred and ninety-three of the former and ten of the latter, and most of them were kept running to their full capacity. Milwaukee alone produced, in 1S76, 321,611 barrels of lager beer and 43,17.; barrels of high v,-ines. In 1SC5, it furnished 65,666 barrels of beer, ind in 1S70, 108,845 barrcK. In 1S65, it furnished 3,0-16 barrels of high wines; in 1S70, 22,867 barrels; and in 1S75, 39,005. A large quantity of the beer made was shipped to eastern and southern cities. The beer made in 1876 sold at the rate of ten dollars per b.irrel, the wholesale price of the brewers bringing the sum of $3,216,110. The f^me of Milwaukee lager beer is widely extended. This city h,i. furnished since 1S70, 1,520,30s barrels which, at the wholesale price, brought i;i5,203,i70. Tlie total production of beer by all the two hundred and ninety-three breweries of the state for 1876, was 450,508 barrels.

In 1S76, Milwaukee produced 43,175 barrels of high wines, or distilled spirits, and the state of Wisconsin 51,959 barrels. In 1S70, the former produced 108,845 barrels of beer and 22,S''i7 barrels of distilled spirits, and in the same year the state of Wisconsin produced 189,664 barrels of beer and 36,145 barrels of distilled spirits.

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

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

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

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

Chippewa river has its origin in small streams in the north part of the state. Explorers tell us that there are a large number of water powers on all the upper branches, but as the country is yet unsettled, none of them have been improved, and very few even located on our maps. Brunette falls and Ameger falls, above Cliippcwa Falls city, must furnish considerable waterpower, but its extent is not known At Chippewa Falls is an excellent water-povrer, only partially ini[)roved. The river descends twenty-six feet in threc-fourtlis of a mile. At Duncan creek at the same place, there is a good fall, improved to run a large flouring mill. At Eagle Rapids, five miles above Chiiipewa Falls, §120,000 has been expended in improving the fal! of the Chip[jewa river. The city of Eau Cl.iire is situated at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers, and possesses in its immediate vicinity water-powers almost unrivaled. Some of them are improved. The citizens of Eau Claire have, for several years, striven to obtain legislative authority to d;'.m the Chippewa river, so as to improve the water-power of the Dells, and a lively contest, known as the " Dell:, figlit." h^is been carried on with the capitalists along the river aliove th.U town. There are immense water-powers in Dunn county, on the Red Cedar, Chippewa :uid Eau Calle rivers, on which there are many lumliering cstablishmentb. In Pepin county also there are good powers. The Black river and its branches, the La Crosse, lUifi'alo, Trempealeau, lieaver, andTamaso, furnish many v.iluable I'owers. The ."^t. Croix river is not excelled in the value ''f its water privileges bv any stream in the state, except the Lower Fox river. At St. Croix l'.i!ls, the water of the river makes a descent of eighty-five feet in a distance of iive miles, and the volume of water is sutTicient to move tlie machinery for an immense manufacturing business, and the banks present good facilities fjr building dams, and the river is not subject to freshets. The Kiunekinnick h.is a large number of falls, some of them partially improved. \\'iihin tu'enty-nve miles of its entrance into Lake St. Croix, it ha^ a fall of twu hundred feet, and the volume of water averages about three thousand cubic feet per minute. Rock river affords valuable waterprivileges at \Vatertown (with twentv-tour feet fall;, and largely improved; at Jefferson, Indian Ford and Janesville, all of wh.iih arc improved. Beloit also has an excellent water-power, and it is largely imjiroved. Scattered throughout tiie bt,ite are many other water-powers, not alluded to in the foregoin;^'. There arc several in Manitowoc county ; in Marquette county, also. In Washington county, at \\'c3t licnd, Berlin, and Cedar Creek, there are good water-powers, partly utilized. .-Vt 'Wiiitewater, in Walworth county, is a good power. In Dane county, there is a water-power at Madison, at the outlet of Lake Mendota ; alio, a good one at Stoughton, below the first, or Lake Kegonsa ; also at Paoli, Dellville, All>any and Brodhead, on the Sugar river. In Grant county there are not less than twenty good powers, most of them well-developed. In Racine county, three powers of fine capacity at Waterford, Rochester and Burlington, all of which are improved. The Oconto, Peshtigo and ^Menomonee rivers furnish a large number of splendid water- powers of large capacity. The Upper Wolf river has scores of water-powers on its main stre.nm'tind numerous branches; bv.t nioat of the country is still a wilderness, though containing resources which, when developed, will make it rich and prosperous. There are numerous other streams of less consequence tlian those named, but of great importance to the localities they severally drain, that have liad tlieir powers improved, and their waterfalls arc singing the songs of commerce. On the rivers em[)tying into Lake Superior, there are numerous and valuable water-powers. The Montreal river falls one thousand feet in a distance of thirty miles.

The mechanical and manufaLturing industries of Wisconsin demonstrate that the people do not rely whully upon agricultural pursuits, or lumbering, for subsistence, but aim to diversify their labors as much as possible, and to give encouragement to the skill and ingenuity of their mechanics and artisans. .-Vll our cities, and most of our villages, support establishments that furnish wares and implements in common use among tb.e peop.le. ^\'c gather from the census report for JS70 a few facts that will give us an adequate idea ot what was done in a single year, remembering that the data furnished is six years old, and that great advancement has been made since the statistics were gathered. In 1S70, there were eighty-two establishments engaged in making agricultural implements, employing 1,3^7 hands, and turning out products valued at ,$.',393,400. There were one hundred and eighty-eight furniture establishments, employing 1,844 men, and making $1,542,300 worth of goods. For making carriages and wagons there were four hundred and eighty-five establishments, emiiloying 2.1S4 men, and their product was valued at ,$2,596,534; fur clothing, two hundred ar.d si.vty-three establishments, and value of product $:,34o,4oo ; s.i-.h, doors and blinds, eighty-one shops, and value of product §1.852,370; leather, eighty-five tanneries, employing 577 men, and value of products $2,013,000; malt liquors, one hundred and seventy-six breweries, 835 men, and their products valued at $1,790,273.

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

The principal commodities onl\', which Wisconsin contributes to trade and commerce, have been considered. There remains qaite a number of minor art^Lic^ from which the citizens of the state derive some revenue, such as llax and maple sugar, which can not be separately considered in this paper.

Statistics are usually dry reading, but, to one desiring to change his location and seeking information regarriinga new country and its capabilities, they become intensely interesting and of g'e.it v.Tlue. The farmer wi^he-. to know about the lands, their value and the productivenc>s of the soil ; the mechanic about the workshops, the price of labor, and the dentand for such wares as he is accustomed to make ; the capitalist, concerning all matters that pertain to resources, advantages, and the opportunities for investin;^ his money. Our own people want all the information that can be gained by the collection of all obtainable facts. The sources of such information are now various, and the knowledge tliey impart fragmentary in its cl^aracter.

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

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

It is impossible to predict what will be the future growth and development of Wisconsin. P'rom its commercial and maiuifacturing advantages, we may reasonably anticipate that she will in a few years lead in the I'ront rank of the states of the Union in all that constitutes real greatness. Her educational system is one of the best. With her richly endowed State University, her colleges and high schools, and the people's colleges, the common schools, she has laid a broad and deep foundation for a great and noble commonwealth. It was early seen what were the capabilities of this their newly explored domain. The northvv-i-stcrn explorer, Jonathan Carver, in 1766, one hundred and thirteen years ago, after traversing Wisconsin and viewing its lakes of crystal purity, iti rivers of matchless utility, its forests of exhaustless wealth, its prairies of wonderful fertility, its mines of buried treasure, recorded this remarkable prediction of which we see the fulfillment: '"To what power or authority this new world will become dependent after it has arisen from its present uncultivated state, time alone can discover. But as the seat of empire from time immemorial has been gradually progressive toward the we=t, there is no doubt but that at some future period mighty kingdoms will emerge from these wildernesses, and stately palaces and solemn temples with gilded spires reacliing to the skies supplant the Ii:dian huts, whose only decorations are the barbarous trophies oi"'their vanquished enemies."

The Public Domain

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

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

In the month of May, 1671, fourteen tribes, by their representatives, including the Miamis, Sacs, Winneliagoes, Menomonees, and Potta-wattamies, arrived at the place designated. On the mrirning uf the fourteenth of June, "St. Lii^son led his followers to the top of the hill, all fully equipiHil and under arms. Ikre, too, in the vestments of their priestly office were four Jesuits : Claude Daulon, superior of the mis.,ion on the lakes, Gabriel Druillettes, Claude Allouez, and .-\ndre. All around, the great throng of Indians stood, or crouched, or reclined at length with e\ cs and ears intent. A large cioss of wood had been made ready. Dablon, in solemn form, pronounced his blessing on it ; and then it was reared and planted in the ground, while the I'Venchmen, uncovered, sang the Vcxt'Ila Jici^is. Then a post of cedar was planted beside it, with a metal plate attached, engraven with the royal arms; while St. Lusson's followers sang the cxaudiat, and one of the piiests uttered a prj.ver fur the king. .S;. Lusson now advanced, and, holding his sword in one hand, and rai.->ing witii tlic other a Nud ui e.irth, proclaimed in a loud voice " that lie took possession of all the country occupied by the tribes, and placed them under the king's protection.

This act, however, was not regarded as sufficiently definite, and on the eighth of May, 16S9, Perrot, who was then commanding for the king at t!ie post of Xadouesioux, near Lake Pepin on the we.-^t side of the Mississippi, ronimis>ionei! by the Manpii., de Denonville to manage the interests oi commerce we^t of Green bay took possession, in the name of the king, with apijroiiriate ceremonies, of the countries west of Lake Michigan as far as the river St. Peter. The papers were signed by Perrot and others.

!!}- these solemn act-,, the present liniil:, of with much contiguous territorj', came under the dciminion of the h' reach government, the possession of which continued until October, i7''>r - a period of ninety ye.irs from the gathering of the chief:- ai the Sault Ste. Marie in 167 i.

From tlv commencement of French occupancy up to the time wlien the Ikitish. took posses- -ion, the district of country embraced witliin the pre-eiit limits of this stale had but few white i-ihibitants besides the roaming Indian traders ; and of these few, the locations were separated by a distatice of more than two hundred miles in a diiect line, and nearly double that distance by the usual water courses. There was no settlement of agriculturists; there were no missionary establishments; no furtified [Ki^ts at other points, except at Depere and Green bay on Fox nver, and perhaps at Prairie da Chieu, near the junction of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi.

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

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

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

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

In face of the proclamation of 1763, and within three years after its promulgation, under a pretended jiurchase from, or voluntary grant of the natives, a tract of country nearly one hundred miles square, including large portions of v.-hat is now northern Wisi onsin and Minnesota, was claimed by Jonathan Car\er, and a ratification of Ins title solicited I'rom the king and council, '("his was not conceded; and the representatives of Carver, after the change of government had brought the lands under the jurisdiction of the United States, for a series of years presented the same claims before congress, and asked for their confirmation. Such a demand under all the circumstances, could not justify an expectation of success; and, of course, has often been refused. But notwithstanding the abundant means v.'hich the public have had of informing themselves of the true nature and condition of Carver's claim, bargains and sales of portions of this tract have been made among visionary speculators for more than half a century past. It is now only a short period sinct- the maps of the United States ceased to be defaced by a delineation of 3he "Carver Grant."

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

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

The expedition of Colonel George Rogers Clark to the Illinois country, and the conquest of the British posts in 177S and 1779, had the effect to open the way for the emigration of the Anglo-American population to the Mississippi valley; and at the close of the revolutionary war, Great Britain renounced all claim to the whole territory lying east of the Mississippi river. The dominion of the English in the Illinois and Wabash countries, ceased with the loss of the military posts which commanded the Northwestern territory of the United States. As a result 01 the enterprise and success of Clark, Virginia obtained possession of tiie Illinois country; his expedition having been undertaken and carried forward under the auspices of that state.

Several of the eastern states under their colonial charters, laid claim to portions of the land comprised in the territory northwest of the Ohio river. The claim of Massachusetts was derived from a grant from King J.imes of November 3, 1620 ; and included from hu. 42^^ :' to about lat. 450, extending to the south sea; Connecticut claimed from lat. north to.p'-" 2 . The claims ot Virginia were from grants from King James, bearing date, respectively, April 10, 1606, May 23, 1609, and March i;, 1611, and an additional claim for the territory conquered by Clark m the Illinois countrv; but thev extended no farther north than the southern end of Lake Michigan.

It is a popular impression that the territory of the present state of Wisconsin was comprehended in the lands northwest of the river Ohio, over which Virginia exercised jurisdiction, and, consequently, was included in her deed of cession of lands to the I'nited States. This opinion do generally entertained by writers on American history, is a statement which does not appear to have any solid foundation in fact. Virginia never made any conquests or settlements in Wisconsin, and at no time prior to the proffer of her claims to the general government had she ever exercised jurisdiction over it. In fact, there were no settlements m W isconsin except at Green Bay and Prairie du Ciiien before that time, and these were made by French settlers who were in no wise interfered with -.vhlle the revolution continued. In Illinois it was otherwise; and the possession of its territory by Virginia was an undisputed fact. During the revolution the title of the sovereignty in Wisconsin was actually in Great Britain, and so remained until the definite treaty of peace in 17S3; at which date F.nglaiul yielding her right constructively to the United States, retaining possession, however, until 1796; at which time tlie western posts were transferred to the United States.

The Itblio Jki.Maix

All the claiming states finally ceded their interests to the general government, giving the latter a perfect title, subject only to the rights of the Indians. The deed of cession from Virginia was dated March i, 17S4. The other states ceded their claims, some before this date, others subsequent thereto.