Marathon County, Wisconsin - Chapter 2, 1913

Chapter 2

The Indian Occupation - The Different Tribes Occupying the JP'isconsin Territory - Present Indian Resenvtions - Nczi' York Indians in IVisconsin - Under American Rule - Negro Slavery in Wisconsin - Indian Wars - Lead Mining.

Indian Occupation

The Indians were not the first people to occupy this territory. The mounds on the prairies of Wisconsin, plainly the work of human hands; the tools of copper resembling hammers and shovels, found in shallow dugout places on the surface of the earth in the copper country on the Upper Peninsula, which seem like rude attempt at mining, are proof of the existence of a people long before the appearance of the Xorth American Indians. No knowledge whatever of this prehistoric people has come to us ; they have left no other evidences of their existence and as yet we are unable to interpret or decipher the meaning of these mounds nor form a correct idea of the use of these tools. The Indians themselves know nothing of a prior race to theirs on this continent and consider themselves the original occupants of this part of the world. Nor do we know much more of the Indians themselves. They have no history. Even their tradition is limited.

The Indian, when first discovered by white men, was an untutored child of nature. He knew not the God of Revelation, but acknowledged a God of the Universe, a Great Spirit. He beheld him in the star that sank in beauty behind his lonely dwelling; in the sacred orb that flamed on him from his midday throne; in the thousand things that puzzled his understanding and excited his admiration ; he heard his voice speaking gently in the balmy breezes and beheld his anger in the thunders and lightnings which made the mighty oak and pine break and fall like a reed, but he also believed in an existence after death, in another world.

his Medicine Man. who was his priest, who was supposed to converse with the Great Spirit. They probably had some religious observances, too, but kept them a secret from the white man.

The Indian is suspicious and secretive by nature and pretends not to understand any but his own tongue, though he may well understand the language of the stranger addressed to him and be able to converse with him in the same language. That they have ceremonies which they carry on with great solemnity in secrecy is beyond question.

The Chippewas on the Lac du Flambeau reservation go visiting at intervals of a few years to friends or other members of their tribe to Canada or British Columbia. Their visit is returned the next season. On the arrival of these Canadian Indians there is great feasting and dancing. A big tent is erected and in the night time the Indians assemble therein and have ceremonies and performances which no white man is permitted to witness. The Indian farmer on that reservation, himself a man who is a member of several secret organizations, orders so-called, and who from curiosity was watching from a vantage ground, trying to detect as much as possible of what was going on in the big tent, said that what he saw and heard resembled the secret work of a secret society to which he belonged, making allowance, of course, for the primitive work of the Indians. Whatever it may be, it seems to have a spiritual character, adapted to Indian religious notions.

The unreliability of their tradition is illustrated by the following incident. The writer of this was on a fishing trip, rowed by an intelligent and half civilized Indian from Lac du Flambeau or Fence Lake into Crawling Stone Lake. This half-breed Indian acts frequently as interpreter in the United States courts; he is or was a trader on that reservation. On passing by a big stone, at the thoroughfare to Crawling Stone Lake, having asked his guide how the lake came to this name, the guide pointed out the stone, saying that there was once a terrible battle between the Sioux and the Chippewas; that a stream of blood ran into the lake which washed this stone to its present location from the battlefield. Unfortunately, the writer was not then acquainted with the character of the Indians and anyway, believing his guide to be more of a white than Indian, uttered a word of disbelief of the immensity of bloodshed which could move so large a rock, and immediately his guide stopped and could not be induced to proceed with his narration. It is known, however, from a study of their language, that the Wisconsin Indians belong to two far branching families of the race, namely: to the Algonquins of the East, and the Dakotas of the West.

existence, the Mennominees, Pottawatamies, Mascutins, Sacs, and Foxes, the last tribe also called Outagamies ; to the Dakotas belong the Winnebagoes, and some wandering tribes of Sioux, which invaded Wisconsin from Minnesota.

The Dakotas and Algonquins were always at enmity, excepting the Winnebagoes, a weak tribe, who became more numerous though while in Wisconsin, living in i>eace in the midst of Algonquin tribes.

The following is a list of the tribes or perhaps families of tribes, which occupied the Wisconsin territory proper, and as these names often appear as the names of rivers, creeks, etc., in the geography of Wisconsin, they are given here for future reference; Mascoutins, Winnebagoes; Ojiboys, Chippewas, Gibbways or Sauteurs; Ottawas, Courteorielles ; Mennominees; Kickapoos ; Foxes, Outagamies ; Osaukies, Sauks or Sacs.

In a pamphlet edited by J. A. Lapham, Levy Blossom and George C. Dousman, now among the collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, the following paragraphs appear, which will be read with interest by all who desire to know something of the early Indian occupation of Wisconsin :

"The Mascoutins, as before remarked, early disappeared. Their record is fully made up; their decline and fall is complete; but what has become of them - whether removed to some distant part of the country, amalgamated with some other tribe, or destroyed by poverty and disease - we are not permitted to know. Alas ! the destiny of the Mascoutins is the destiny of the red man.

"The Kickapoos were removed at an early date, west of the Mississippi River; and their name does not appear among those tribes that disposed of their lands to our government.

"The Sauks and Fo.xes appear at one time to have joined the Sioux in their eiTort to maintain a footing upon the east bank of the Mississippi, against the Chippewas. In 1766 they were upon the upper Wisconsin, occupying the country from Green Bay to Lac du Flambeau, and even to Lake Superior and Upper Mississippi, giving the name (Sauk) to a river and rapids in Minnesota. From this position, which they occupied but a short time, they were driven back by the Chippewas, under the leadership of their famous chief, Wah-boo-jeog (White Fisher) who died at Chegoimegon in 1793. The decisive battle was fought at the Falls of the St. Croix. They were thus forced to the lower Rock River, beyond our borders; and they do not appear as claiming any share of Wisconsin in the general apportionment among the Indian tribes at Prairie du Chien in 1825.

"The Winnebagoes are supposed to be an off -shoot of the great Sioux nation ; they figure largely in the Indian History of Wisconsin. They were but a small tribe when first encountered by the French on the shores of Green Bay. They afterwards became a very bold and warlike tribe. They joined Pontiac in his effort to eradicate the British rule in the Northwest in 1763, and afterwards fought with the British against us (the Americans), in 1812. In 1837 they sold their lands in Wisconsin, and were removed in the spring of 1S49 to their reservation at the West, where it is supposed they are to remain permanently.

"The Sioux struggled manfully for their ancient hunting grounds on the St. Croix River, and only relinquished them in 1837 to the United States by treaty. The Chippewas on the north, and the Winnebagoes on the south, had already crowded them into a very narrow space along the east bank of the Mississippi, between Prairie du Chien and Lake St. Croix. It is supposed that they extended much further eastward, along the southern borders of Lake

Superior, whence they were driven by the Chippewas who were themselves crowded by other still more eastern tribes. Their very name, in the language of the Chippewas (Nada wessy), signifies an enemy. And these two tribes were always at war.

"The Chippewas have persistently maintained their position on the south shore of Lake Superior, stretching in 1832, to the head waters of the Chippewa and Wisconsin Rivers. At this time they number 2,826. (They are stronger at this time.)

"Among them were 35 trading posts, visited annually by traders licensed under the act of Congress of May 26th, 1824. The Chippewas sold their land to the Government in 1837 and 1842, except a small reservation near the mouth of Bad River, on Lake Superior, and three reservations in Wisconsin.

"The Mennominees, or Wild Rice Eaters, appear to have been a quiet, peace-loving people, usually ranked above the average Indian tribe in personal appearance and intellectual qualities. For a long time the Milwaukee River was the boundary separating them from the Pottowatamies at the south. Tomah appears to have been in former times a good and great chief among them, advising them against wars and all other kinds of wickedness. He has been very properly remembered in the name of one of our flourishing towns.

"In 1848 the Mennominees ceded their entire country in this State to the General Government, and were to be removed to Minnesota ; but the district assigned to them not being found suitable to their wants, they were, with the consent of the legislature of Wisconsin, allowed to remain upon a small reservation (276,480 acres) on the Wolf River. (They are now on this reservation.)

"In August, 1853, Oshkosh, the renowned chief of this tribe, whose name is very properly perpetuated in the beautiful city on the shores of Lake Winnebago, represented to the government that his tribe was never so poor and destitute of provisions, having fallen almost to a condition of starvation. About half of the tribe were devoted to agriculture ; the remainder still adhered to the roving life of the hunter.

"The Pottowatamies were one of the largest and most powerful tribes of Indians. They were represented in 1821 as thinly scattered in wigwams over a great extent of country, stretching on the south along both sides of the Illinois River, on the western shore of Lake Michigan, to the Mennominees of Milliwaky, and to the Winnebagoes of Green Bay, on the east beyond the St. Joseph to the head waters of the Maumee and the Wabash ; and to the west their territories extended to Rock River, and to the lands of the Sauks and Foxes on the Mississippi. At the treaty held in Chicago in 1833 they relinquished to the government all their lands in this State south and west of the Milwaukee River, which then became public land, and was open for settlement and improvement by the white people.

"In 1853 the remnant still remaining of this once powerful tribe was removed to permanent homes west of the Upper Mississippi. (A small portion however still is with the Mennominees on their reservation.)"

The lands occupied in Wisconsin at the time of the explorations of the French may be properly limited thus : The Mennominees from the Mennominee river south to the Milwaukee river and east of Lake Michigan ; west to the Wisconsin river and up the Wisconsin to Big Bull Falls (Wausau). The Sacs and Foxes on the Fox river and north - the Chippewas on the headwaters of the Chippewa river and Wisconsin and extending up into the peninsula of Michigan. The Winnebagoes surrounded Lake Winnebago and occupied western lands too; their principal villages in 1766 stood on what is now Doty's Island.

flict with the French and their Indian alHes, and were driven out and fled across tlie Mississippi, wliere they were later joined by their friends, the Sacs, who for some thirty years occupied the land on the west of the Wisconsin river from Baraboo and Sauk down south.

According to all reliable reports, there were never more than fifteen thousand Indians occupying Wisconsin. The territory was a veritable paradise for the Indian. Red deer were plentiful, the elk common, the bear could be trapped, numerous beaver dams in all parts of the state prove the existence of large colonies of this animal so highly valued by the Indian for his meat as well as fur. The lakes, rivers, and creeks were full of excellent fish, which when dried and smoked could be easily preserved ; berries and nuts could be gathered by the squaws and young ones, and the shores of most lakes were fringed with wild rice. The thick forest sheltered the Indians from the wintery blasts, which passed over their heads, and there was always plenty of dry wood to keep the wigwam warm.

They had their trails which ran in as straight direction as possible from place to place, avoiding low swampy places. When a party was on a march, knowing that another party of theirs was behind, they would put sticks in the ground on leaving camp, from which the party behind, when the sun struck the sticks, could determine the day and hour when the first party had left. Their trails have often served as the proper location for highways by the pioneers. Within recent years, before the lumber in and around Minoqua was cut and all old landmarks perished, there could plainly be seen the old Indian trail, passing from Lake Superior to the portage on the Fox and Wisconsin rivers.

On each of these reservations is a government boarding school, a Catholic and Protestant church; but the Indians still hold to ancient ceremonies and religious customs,

There is a Roman Catholic church, a Methodist church, and a Congregational church, the two former having resident ministers, and the Congregational church having a missionary not residing but holding regular services there.

There are two or three pubHc schools, and the Roman Catholics operate a large boarding school, and there is a day school supported by the government.

They have three schools on that reservation, to-wit : the Keshena Boarding School which accommodates about ninety Indian pupils; the St. Joseph's Catholic Industrial School with about one hundred and fifty pupils, both schools located at Keshena, besides a mixed school at Neopit attended by about thirty Indian children and 45 white children. There are four Catholic churches, one at Keshena, one at South Branch, one at West Branch, and one at Neopit, Wisconsin. The Menominees live mostly on separate small farms like the Oneidas, having from two to fifty acres under cultivation.

The New York Indians, brought here by treaty in 1832, by which they exchanged their land in New York for land in Wisconsin, are the six nations, commonly called Oneidas, and the Stockbridges, the St. Regis, the Munsees and the Brothertons.

They were about one thousand and one hundred head in all when they emigrated, but have since been augmented by accessions from New York and are now 2,333 '" number. They occupy the land in severalty to the number of 1,520 and have fine cultivated fanns, one government boarding school, one government day school, two mission day schools, and one public school ; four church societies, one Protestant Episcopal, one Methodist, one Catholic and one Adventist.

The Stock-bridge, Munsee and the St. Regis Indians were gi\en a small reservation in Calumet county, as also the Brotherton Indians. They all hold their land in severalty, have become citizens, and are fast losing their Indian characteristics and language, and it will be but one or two generations more when they will entirely disappear as Indians, as the Brothertons have already.

Under American Rule

Although the territory was ceded by England by the treaty of 1783, the British posts were not withdrawn until 1795. pursuant to "Jay's treaty." In the War of 181 2, the sympathies of the few white traders and Indians were

There came a change in the fur trade after the passing of the act of congress in 1815, which drove the Hudson Bay Company out of business, which was quickly seized by the American Fur Company, principally owned by John Jacob Astor, who succeeded by various manipulations, buying out and combining with other fur companies in monopolizing the trade, which 'continued to prosper, but brought no permanent settlers into the territory. The peace was disturbed later by two Indian wars, which were but of short duration, and occurred while Wisconsin was still a part of Michigan territory. The real cause of the first war was the taking possession of the lead mines by white men in the vicinity of Galena while the land still belonged to the Indians.

Indians themselves mined, or rather dug out and smelted lead ore and traded it to the whites, which trade attracted white men up from Illinois, so that after 1820 there were quite a number of white men engaged in that business, which excited the enmity of the Indians, especially the Winnebagoes, because they treated the lead mines, and properly so, as their own property.*

In the same year, a council of Indians was held with the different tribes of Indians, at Prairie du Chien, ostensibly to make lasting peace between them, and definitely settle the boundaries between them respectively. In October, 1826, orders came from Washington to remove the troops to Fort Snelling, and abandon Fort Crawford, which was done, the commandant taking with him two \\'innebago Indians who had been confined in the guardhouse for some supposed trivial offense. The Indians were already in an ugly mood; they had committed some murders on straggling whites, and the removal of the troops caused the Indians to believe they had fled through fear for them.

In the spring of 1827 a rumor gained currency that the two prisoners taken to Fort Snelling were turned over to the Chippewas, made to run the gauntlet through a party of the latter tribe and had been killed. Something of that kind did occur to some Sioux prisoners. These supposed murders,

*In 1822 Mr. James Thompson, a government contractor for the army, made a treaty with the Indians, and obtained leave to work the mines for a limited time, probably four years, as he left in 1826. Mr. Thompson let in other parties to dig; and one firm of the name of Ware, brought from 50 to 400 negro slaves. In 1826 there was a great rush to Galena, somewhat like the California excitement at a later period.

In March, 1827, one Methode, a settler near Galena, was killed in his sugar bush, his wife and five children were killed in the house, and also the dog who had valiantly defended his master. In the dead dog's jaw a piece of red cloth was found, which apparently had been torn from an Indian leg. Winnebagoes had been seen in the vicinity, which fixed the terrible murders upon them. Red Bird, a well known chief, was with that band of Winnebagoes. There was great alarm and excitement; a militia company at once organized in Galena, and Secretary of War Louis Cass, who happened to be at Butte de IMorts, to make a treaty with the Winnebagoes, proceeded at once to Prairie du Chien by bark canoe, and ordered the troops from Fort Snelling and from Fort Howard with 62 Oneida and Stockbridge Indians to the scene. Red Bird's Winnebago band had fled from Prairie du Chien and were found ' encamped near where Portage City now is, several hundred strong, but being surrounded with no hope of escape, they surrendered.

It was fortunate that General Cass was on the ground and by his authority directed all available troops to the disturbed area before the revolt could spread and involve the Sauks and Foxes with the Winnebagoes in a bloody Indian war.

The southwest corner of the territory was again disturbed in 1832 by the Black Hawk war. He was the chief of the Sauks and Foxes, who had been driven across the Mississippi about seventy-five years before. In this war upwards of fifty white men were killed and murdered by the Indians, houses burned and property destroyed, before Black Hawk was finally defeated at Bad Ax, about forty-three miles from Prairie du Chien. He himself fled, seeking refuge among his pseudo friends, the Winnebagoes in the valley of the Lemonweir, where he expected to hide among the bluffs and cliffs well known to him. The Winnebagoes did not dare to sympathize with their fallen friend, and he fled upwards to the Dalles of the Wisconsin, where he was captured (given up by a Winnebago) about two miles above Kilbourn, in August, 1827.

Black Hawk was sent as a prisoner to Jefferson Barracks near Washington, in charge of Lieut. Jefferson Davis, then in charge of riie LTnited States Anny at Prairie du Chien, and thirty years later president of the Confederated States.

Black Hawk was first taken before President Andrew Jackson, who expressed himself very emphatically to him on the subject of Indian wars, and was then sent as a prisoner to Fort Monroe.

On June 4, 1832, he was liberated and sent home, being conducted through the principal cities to impress him with the futility of any conflict with the whites. He remained quiet afterwards, and died in 1838.

The influx of white settlers was still at low ebb. Only the lead mines flourished and the population in that part of the territory rapidly augmented.

Lead mining had attracted many persons to the mines with no intention to settle permanently, solely prompted from the motive of rapidly acquiring wealth. Many arrived in spring and returned on the approach of winter; some met with success, but many were compelled by the necessity resulting from bad luck to remain. The latter class became permanent settlers in the country which they had visited first only as an adventurous experiment.

When it is remembered that the Indians were still the owners of the soil, it is not surprising that troubles and hostilities in the lead region should occur, but after the Black Hawk war the Indians ceded the land and the surveys were pushed with vigor.