Winnebago County, Wisconsin - Chapter 36, 1880

Incidents in tiie Early Day - Recollections of Early Settlers - The Partridge Child Alleged to Have Been Stolen by the Indians - Great Excitement and Trial for the Recovery of the Child - Recollections of Sam Cloiigh and of Doctor Linde - Desperate Encounter Between Walter James, Son of G. P. R. James, the English Novelist, and Three Indians - An Old Time Scrimmage at Omro with a Lot of Young Winnebago Bucks - C L. Rich Witnesses an Encounter at Stanley's Feny.

R. Samuel Clough, at the present time a highly respected citizen of Nepeuskun, started, in 1844, for what was then considered the out-posts of civilization, and in his peregrinations reached Rock Prairie in the vicinity of Janesville, Wisconsin; remaining in that neighborhood about one year, during which time he made explorations as far north as Seven Mile Creek in Fond du Lac County. In 1845 he started with a view of making a permanent settlement, and made a purchase about one and a half miles west of his present residence on land now owned by T. McLelland and M. Thomas, this being the first land entered in the town of Berlin.

Mr. Clough after making his selection set out for Green Bay to purchase; but on his arrival at the farm of John Bannister, about two miles south of Fond du Lac, he learned that Mr. Bannister was acting as land agent, and to save the walk to Green Bay and back entrusted his money for entering the land to him, retaining only one dollar and eighteen cents as the sum of his worldly possessions, with anticipations of a patent for 160 acres of Uncle Sam's domain, and again turned hisface toward Rock Prairie about one hundred miles distant. Weary and footsore, with his shoes in his hand and traveling in his stockings, he was soon overtaken by a gentleman with a horse and comfortable buggy, who asked him if he would like to ride. He replied he would but was short of money.

"Well, get in here; I am going to take this horse to Racine andhave got just one shilling. If you will pay for feeding the horse at Wau- I will carry you to Watertown."

Arriving at " Wilcox's " at Waupun, the stranger took the horse to the stable, and, seeing a barrel of barley there, very dexterously transferred a peck to the manger; then walking into the house, he saw a pan of cookies in an unoccupied room and filled his pockets.

Rejoining Mr. Clough in the kitchen, Mr. C. proposed to invest in a bowl of bread and milk, each involving an outlay of twenty cents. This the stranger declined, and after Mr. C. had relieved the inner man in manner aforesaid, and resting the horse sufficiently as the stranger expressed it to Mr. Wilcox, they started again and arrived in Watertown before five o'clock. Here Mr. C. discovered the wellknown mule team of uncle Jo Goodrich of Prairie du Lac (Milton) and froni thence continued his journey on foot Working here through harvest, he went to Metomen, Fond du Lac County, and after splitting \Cm. rails started for his Berlin estate. Arriving there he sold out in April, 1846, and takingthe proceeds started for Green Bay, where he purchased 200 acres, his present farm.

Returning from Green Bay, he, with an acquaintance, set out for Oshkosh with the intention of purchasing a boat, and with the requisite provisions as freight, proceeding to Wolf River to procure logs, which when floated down the Wolfand up the Fox to a point most convenient to his purchase were to be converted into shingles. Reaching Omro on his way to Oshkosh, he found Jed Smalley (at the time an Indian merchant), where he stopped for dinner which consisted of boiled peas, the only solids obtainable.

Arriving at Oshkosh they found Webster Stanley, George Wright, P. V. Wright, Amos Dodge, two Gallups, and what was supposed to be a town site. Unable to procure boat or provisions, the expedition to Wolf River w as abandoned, and while considering the next best thing, Mr. Sam Farnsworth (who had built a dam and saw mill at Shawano the year before) made his appearance in search of assistance to rebuild his dam which had been washed out, and a millwright to repair the mill which had been badly damaged. Mr. C. and nine others enlisted. Purchasing three orfour barrels of pork and beef at Fond du Lac, and some thirty bushels of potatoes, Mr. Farnsworth's boat was loaded, and with eight oars the boat was rowed to Shawano, the dam and mill completed and the party returned to Oshkosh in six weeks, arriving on the evening of July 2d.

ImmediateK- on arri\al Mr. C. was accosted by a young gamin with, "we're going to have a celebration here to-morrow." There being no settlers in the region where Mr. C. left he \'cry naturally asked the bo)', "where are the folks coming from?"

And they did celebrate, Anu)s Uodgc and a key bugle comprising the band, and Mr. C. was greatly interested to see the increase o( population during his absence of a few weeks.

The same year Mr. C. had fourteen acres broke at a qost of two dollars per acre, and in the spring of 1 847 purchased tweKe bushels of seetl wheat (of William Uaikiii of CJreen Lake) at tift_v cents per bushel, and with it sowed si.\- acres of his breaking from which he harvested 126 bushels. Up to this time he had purchased his flour and pork on Rock Prairie. The flour was manufactured at Whitewater from wheat that cost thirty-nine cents per bushel, (first quality of wheat.) Fork and beef were purchased at one and a half cents per pound.

Having raisetl the wheat the giinding was the ne.xt consideration. Joining with a neighbor each put in twenty-two and a halfbushels, making forty-five bushels, which was taken to Watertown, a distance of fifty-three miles, ground and returned, feeding the bran on the w a\- home.

In the winter of 1848-9, Mr. C. contracted with Messrs. Brand & Sawyer, of Algoma, for sixteen thousand feet of pine lumber at eight dollars per thousand, to be one-third clear stuff, and drawing it home erected his present residence in the spring of 1849.

On a fine hunting-night, in the latter part of June, 1856, Mr. Walter James went to a small lake near Muckwa, with his canoe, ft)r the purpose of night-hunting deer. Fortunately he took the doctor's hunting-knife, a formidable weapon, made of the best steel, and weighing two and a half pounds. He found plenty of deer, but they would not take to the water on account of the carousals of three Indians, who w ith their families were encamped near the lake. James, being fiimiliar witii the Indians, and not anticipating any trouble, then went to their wigwams, and asked them not to make so much noise, and let him ha\e a chance at the deer. The Indians who had drank just about whiskey enough to make them excitable and quarrelsome, then attacked him. One grabbed him by the throat; when James pulled out his big hunting knife, and then the Indian grasped him b\' the fore arm, to prevent James from striking with it; but his desperation lent him strength; and the great weight of the weapon enabled him b)' the strength of his wrist alone, to strike a blow which split the Indian's skull, when he fell unconscious. This was the work of a few seconds. The Indian had no sc)oner released his hold on James and fallen, than another made a thrust at him with a knife; but James being a skillful swordsman, easily parried the thrust, anil struck his antagonist on the right arm with the intention of crippling him. The blow se\ered the bone between the shoulder and the elbow , barely leax'ing the artery uncut and a shred b\' which the arm dangled. At the same instant that the second Indian maile the thrust with his knife, the other grasped the gun which James hekl in his left hand. The latter clung to the gun, which was loaded with buckshot, well knowing that his life dejiended on keeping it in his possession; but after he had disabled the second Indian, the third kept beyond the reach of the knife, holding the gun by the barrel, while James held it b\- the breech. Seeing'that be could not get within reach of the Indian without releasing his hold on the gun, he let go and at the same instant jumped forward and made a desperate stroke at the Indian's head. The latter threw his head back and received the blow in the left breast, which partly cut four of the ribs, and expended its force on the wrist, cutting deeply into the bone. The Indian then fled with the gun and James ft)llowed in close pursuit, knowing well that it was a race for life; for ifi the Indian could get sufficient distance to turn and get a shot at him, he was gone. After running a short distance, in which the Indian barely succeeded in keeping but a little more than arm's length from James, the latter was tripped by a wild grape vine and fell. At the same instant the Indian turned and leveled the piece at him and pulled the trigger. When' James saw the muzzle of the glistening barrel that cont.iined lwent\-four buck-shot, he felt.i far an instant, that his chances for life were narrow. The Indian, however, failed to discharge the gun, and James, quickly comprehending the reason, which was that the gun was at half-cock, jumped up and plunged down the bank of the stream which was the outlet of the lake. As the place where he happened to fall was near where he had left his canoe, it was the work of but a few moments to reach it, when he quickly paddled out in the lake, trusting that the obscurity of the night would prevent the Indian from getting a shot at him. This desperate encounter, up to the time when the Indian fled with the gun, occupied but a few seconds; as the three Indians attacked James simultaneously, and in fact it was but a few minutes from the time he had landed to visit the Indians, until he was again out on the lake.

Another man was on the lake in a canoe watching for a chance at deer; a Mr. Jerroux, who owned the adjoining land. As the Indians were making such a racket, he had lain down in his canoe to rest, till the noise subsided; and had fallen asleep, unconscious of the tragical events transpiring so near him. James paddled out to him and awakening him, related, what had occurred, and requested him to go to the wigwam and see what condition the wounded were in. He went, came back and reported to James, who immediately started for Doctor Linde, feeling that his surgical services were much needed; but the Doctor who had been at Weyauwega, was then on his return on a steamboat, which met James' canoe in the river. The latter was taken on board and gave a recital of what hadoccurred. He showed the marks of the encounter; his neck still retaining the indentations of all the finger nails of the hand which had grasped it.

On their arrival at Mukwa, the Doctor took his surgical instruments and accompanied by James, went immediately to the wigwam. The Indian, whose skull was cleaved, was still alive, but unconscious, and beyond the reach of surgical skill. He soon died. The one whose arm was nearly severed was attended to. The bone being cut slanting, it was found necessary to cut off the points, so as to square the ends; which was done. In due time the bone united, but the main nerve having been severed, caused paralysis of the arm and left him a cripple for life. The wounds of the other were dressed and the gashes sewed up, but about a year afterwards he died; it was reported from necrosis of the ribs occasioned by the injury.

The fatal quarrel caused great excitement among the Indians, who flocked from all directions, to the scene of the tragedy; and congregated in large numbers, in the vicinity of Linde's, assuming a most threatening attitude. The settlers were in such great fear from apprehension that the Indians had assembled for the purpose of taking revenge, that they dared not afford Linde any protection. He thought it a necessary precaution to send his little son Fred, to Oshkosh. The Doctor seemed to be involved in the trouble, from the fact that it was supposed hostility to him that provoked the attack on James; they having in the night and the phrensy of the moment mistaken James for Linde; as the latter had caused the arrest and fine of some parties who had been selling whiskey to the Indians, for the purpose of suppressing the evil; considering his life in danger when the Indians, were in liquor, whereas, he had no fear of them when they were sober.

The Doctor resolved to brave out the excitement which for a time ran very high. One of his neighbors deserves to be remembered in this connection. A man by the name of John Thorn, a blacksmith, who offered to help Linde in the event of any attack on him. Linde believed if any hostile demonstration were made, it would be immediately; so the night he had sent F"red away, he determined to keep a vigilant watch. Knowing that his dogs would give prompt notice of any hostile approach, it was arranged that he should give Thorn notice, if he were needed, by discharging a gun. The night passed without any disturbance, and in the morning Linde decided to empty one of his revolvers, that had been loaded a long time, and, forgetting his arrangement with Thorn, commenced discharging the piece. After firing a few shots he happened to look in the direction of Thorn's house, which was just across a little marsh, when he discovered Thorn running toward him at full speed, with his rifle in one hand and hunting-knife in the other. There was, however, no need of his services, so they amused themselves for some time in shooting at a mark.

James Clark, of Winchester, as soon as he heard of the danger surrounding his friends, promptly came to their defense, and offered to stand by them till the danger was over.

After the Indians and their friends had fully investigated the sad encounter, it was settled - Indian fashion - one of the conditions of the settlement requiring James to consent to be adopted by the tribe as one of its members, taking the place of the one who was killed. He therefore became a Menominee by adoption.

orablc night, may deem it an exaggeration, but the people who were living here at the time, know the facts to be as they are here substantially stated, and will distinctly remember the circumstances. There were, it is true, some differences of opinion as to where the chief blame of the encounter rested; some alleging that the Indians had cause of provocation, in former attempts to drive them from Linde's hunting grounds; but the general opinion seemed to be that it was not reasonable to suppose that James would go alone in the night, with any hostile intentions, to a wigwam of three able-bodied Indians; and that the reasonable conclusion was, that he thought he could get them to quiet down and give him a chance to hunt; but they, mistaking him in the night for Linde, and being in the first stages of intoxication, construed the visit into an attempt to drive them off, and feeling belligerent, attacked him.

Captain William Powell had a trading-post near the present site of Omro; and in the summer of 1844, the Winnebagoes were encamped, two hundred strong under old Yellow Thunder, at the outlet of Rush Lake. Yellow Thunder's boy, with eleven other young bucks, came down to Powell's to rob him of his whiskey and have a spree. There happened to be at Powell's shanty, at the time, three other whites: Jed Smalley, Leb Dickinson and Charles Carron, a Menominee half-breed. They resisted the attempt of the Winnebago bucks to get the whiskey, and a general fight ensued; but both whites and Indians, well knowing the consequences ofusing any deadly weapon, confined themselves to their fists and clubs. Just as the struggle was at its full height, and after Captain Powell had his right arm broken, but was still using his club with his left, Doctor Linde, who happened to come on a visit, appeared on the scene. The combatants were so engaged that neither party observed the accession to the force of the whites. Tlie Doctor quickly comprehending the situation, and the necessity of prompt action, as the whites were getting the worst of it, threw down his pack, cocked both barrels of his rifle and laid it down on his pack, and went into the scrimmage with his tomahawk. He first struck Yellow Thunder's boy; the Indian turning his head as he received the blow, the tomahawk peeled the skin entirely across the forehead. He fell senseless, when Linde struck another

Indian. The fight now proceeded so vigorously that the Doctor had no time for observation, until a cessation of hostilities revealed to the sight twelve Indians liors du combat. Things now looked more serious than ever, for if one Indian was killed the band at Rush Lake would seek revenge in an attempt to kill the whole party; whereas, if no life was lost, it would only be looked on as deserved punishment, and the whites entitled to the highest respect for their \ictory over such superior numbers.

Measures of safety now had to be taken until it was ascertained whether any of the Indians were killed. Charley Carron was, therefore, sent out to a point, about a mile distant on the trail to Rush Lake with orders to shoot any Indians that were en route for Powell's. Then the party of whites proceeded to pack their goods into their canoes and get everything ready for a sudden start, for if one Indian out of the lot did not recover, they must, with all dispatch, get out of the Winnebago country into the Lower Fox region and down to Green Bay. If all proved well, Carron was to be notified with a signal of two shots.

Powell's arm was next dressed and set. and then the Indians were attended to, most of them getting upon their feet, ha\ing received no serious injur)-. The wounds of some had to be dressed, but one by one they came out all right : that is, alive; a broken arm or a badly gashed head was no very serious matter. So the young bucks very gratefully partook of the hospitalities, including a little whiskey, which concluded the ceremonies of the occasion; only regretting that their plan forgetting on a big drunk had miscarried, and laughing at the affair as a bad joke on themselves. Old Yellow Thunder laughed at the discomfiture of the Indians, wlu), when the)- returned, sadder, but wiserlndians, had to own up that the good joke of stealing Powell's whiskc)-, though well conceived, had materiall)- failed in its practical execution.

Doctor Linde was well acquainted with Cha-ka-mo-ca-sin,warchief of thcMenominees. From the Doctor we learn the following incidents in his career. Like all the war chiefs of Indian tribes he arose to the position through an established reputation for bravery and skill on the war-path. He once made the trip alone from here to the Pacific Coast, stating that he crossed mountains whose tops were covered with snow, and went from the land of sweet waters to those of bitter. This was before the days of over-land travel, when travelers had to be self-sustaining. He was a man of great' physical strength and great power of endur- ance. On one occasion, when lying drunk in his lodge, an enemy stabbed him, the knife passing through the lung. His friends discovering him l>'ing dead, as they thought, put on their mourning paint and were singing around him, when, to their surprise, he rose up and asked who was dead. On being informed that he was, and what killed him, he immediately took his knife and went to the lodge of his enemy who was sitting down with his blanket drawn over his head in expectant retribution. Cha-ka-mo-ca-^in pulled oft' the blanket and told him to "look up if he wanted to see a man." The Indian stared as if at an apparition. Said Cha-ka-mo-ca-sin: "Do you supposej'flw could kill a waj- chief. You don't know how to strike. This is the way;" and suiting the action to the words, drove the knife into him, up to the hilt, when the Indian fell dead.

On one occasion the Doctor saw him sitting on a log smoking, with ail the nonchalance of Indian imperturbability, while his squaw was belaboring him angrily, with all her strength, over the back with a paddle, and accusing him of lying around drunk, when he ought to be hunting and trapping. As the blows increased in number and vigor, he quietly looked around to her and said "it hurts." "I make it hurt more," she replied, renewing the blows with all her strength. After taking his punishment for some time longer with true Indian stolidity, he cooly laid down his pipe and getting up told his squaw to take his place on the log. She obeyed, for she saw he meant business. He then took up the paddle and returned measure for measure. She squalled and said "it hurts." "That is what 1 told you, now you beliex'e it," he replied, and cooly resumed his pipe.

Doctor Linde occupies a' prominent place in the pioneer history of this county. He migrated here from Denmark, in 1842, and immediately purchased 280 acres, the present site of the Northern Hospital for the Insane. The patent for this land was issued to him. The first fifteen acres which he cleared and broke, is now the vegetable garden of the hospital. On this place he built a log-house, in which he resided for three years, in pioneer style - hunting, trapping, clearing land, splitting rails, and the other incidental work of a newcomer, excepting when at times important surgical operations demanded his services. He married Miss Sarah Adelaide Dickenson, daughter of Clark Dickenson, who was one of the very early settlers of the county. The Doctor had selected this locality for his future home, then on the very confines of civilization, for the purpose of gratifying his taste for a frontier life, and his love for hunting, trapping and backwood sports, and consequently did not practice his profession; but being one of the only two professional surgeons in the territor}' at that time, he was reluctantly compelled to practice, when occasion demanded his services.

The country, on his arrival here, was a comparative wilderness, his house and two others, being the only ones between Oshkosh and Winnebago Rapids (now Neenah). The only roads in the country were Indian trails, and the means of transportation, packing by land or in canoes by water, and many a weary mile has he packed his heavy load. The pioneer hospitality of the day is illustrated by his keeping a light burning till late in the night, to guide the traveler on the lake to a place of shelter, and whether Indian or white man, he was welcome to a place by the fireside. Speaking French fluently, and from similarit}- of tastes, he found most congenial companions among the old French settlers. Being one of the very best rifle shots in the country, he soon became famous among the Indians and whites, and passed a large portion of his time in the chase. His mark was so well known and respected by the Indians, that they never intruded on ground occupied by him, when hunting and trapping. The incidents of his years of backwoods life, would make an interesting \olume. On one occasion, having a number of guns out of doors which he had been cleaning, he observed a band of Pottawattamies on their travels, who, in passing along near the guns, stopped and contemptuously remarked in their language, "White man have heap guns, but can't shoot much. " The Doctor came up and by those significant signs with which Indians so readily express themselves, pointed at the guns and then at the Indians, and holding his other hand about two feet from the ground, to signify that they were little children in the use of fire-arms, and then straightening up and pointing to himself as big man. who would try them. He then took out one of his pistols and got an Indian boy to hold out at arm's length a bit of board, about six inches square, at which he fired, putting a ball nearly in the center. The second shot he struck the center. The boy showed nerve - never flinching a hair's breadth. The Indians then cut off a bit of bark on a tree - long range; on the second shot the doctor's ball struck the center. The Indians, without a word, turned on to the trail and left. The Doctor regards himself an instance of the degenerating effects of civilization, as he was known among the Indians as White Bear, and by the settlers, as the Hunting-Doctor," Whereas now," he says, he is "only Old Doct Linde. " He did not take the precaution of Nicodemus Easy, the father of Marryatt's hero, who, when it was proposed to name his first born after him, objected, on the ground that the boy would be called Young Nick, and he would in contradistinction be called Old Nick.

After a residence of four years on his land, he moved to Green Bay, wliere he lived about a year, practicing his profession. While at the Bay, he made the acquaintance of an old Indian, who had been scalped, when a boy, by a Chippewa. A portion of the skull was bare, where the scalp-lock was cut ofif; this was one of the survivors of a famous event in Menominee tradition, and is celebrated by the "Dance of the three Menominees " When this Indian was a boy, he was, with some women and children, taken captive by a party of Chippewas. A short time after the Chippewas had departed with their captives, three Menominees on a hunt, who had just killed a deer, came upon the scene of the capture. With the unerring sagacity of Indians, they readily perceived what had taken place, and that the party who attacked and carried oft' their women and children, was composed of twenty-one Chippewas. Dividing up the deer among them, which afforded a plentiful supply of food for several days, they immediately took the trail of the Chippewas, and notwithstanding the great disparity in numbers, determined, without waiting for any accession to their forces, to attempt the recovery of their people, and obtain revenge for the injury. They followed the trail to a point in the Chippewa country, beyond Post Lake, where they discovered the smoke of their camp. They now proceeded cautiously, and stealthily creeping up, saw the captives and the twenty-one Chippewas. The latter had deposited their fire-arms in a place a little removed from their camp-fire. By a strategic movement the three Menominees succeeded in getting between the Chippewas and their guns, and then quickly possessed themselves of the latter. P^ach Menominee then picked out his Chippewa, and fired; three fell dead. They then repeated their shots with fatal rapidity; after which the)- closed in with the remainder in a hand to hand fight. Every Chippewa was killed, except one old man, whose life was spared for the purpose of sending the compliments of the three Menominees to his tribe, and informing them how the Menominees avenged an injury. This event is celebrated by the Menominees with one of their most popular dances.

After something more than ayear's residence at Green Baj', Doctor Linde removed to Oshkosh. He purchased one and a half acres of land, the present site of the First National Bank and postofiice. While living on this place his wife died, when he sold the place to Colonel Lucas Miller, and moved to Fond du Lac, and again engaged in the practice of his profession, which he followed for about a year, when he embarked in the fur trade. At this time, about 1852, he married a niece of Governor Doty - Miss Sarah M. Davis - who died the next year in child-birth. Shortly after this event, he moved with his son F"red, eight years old, to Mukwa, where he lived for fi\e years, chiefly trappingand hunting. * *

For two years Walter James, son of G. P. R. James, the English novelist, lived with him. James, the elder, was Consul at Norfolk, and for a period, acting as English Embassador to the United States. He made a visit to his son and the Doctor, participating with much zest in all the novel incidents of a back-woods life. After a morning's hunt, of a fine Indian summer day in October, during which G.P. R. James killed a deer, and while they were sitting down in the house after dinner, the dogs gave signs of the near approach of game. The Doctor, who was lying down comfortably smoking, called to Walter James to take his rifle. He did so, and no. sooner reached the door, than he fired, standing just inside the door-step, bringing down a large buck, whose last jump was in the vegetable garden, where he fell dead.

After a residence of five years at Mukwa, Doctor Linde removed to Oshkosh, where he has since resided and engaged in the practice of his profession, and is now associated with his son. Doctor F. H. Linde, in an extensive practice. He has risen to eminence as one of the leading physicians of the State, and among the highest of the State Medical Association. His son, Fred, has already established his reputation as a successful practitioner, and is devotedly attentive to his profession.

The old hunter and trapper has had to succumb to the civilization which crowded him and the Indians from theirold hunting-grounds; but the Doctor says, were it not for his children, he would return with the greatest pleasure to his beloved frontier life, and the enjoj'ments and hardships of the chase.

In April, 1852, a great excitement pre\'ailed throughout the county, occasioned b)' the supposed discovery of a white child among the Menominees, that they were suspected of having stolen two j-ears prexious.

Partridge, who lived on a farm in the Town of Vinland, and owned a piece of woodland which was situated about five miles from his residence. To this place he repaired with his family early in the spring, and lived in a camp while he was engaged in making maple sugar. His little son, Casper, three or four years old, wandered away from the camp, and was missed immediatel}' after his disappearance, when search was made for him; but night came on and the child could not be found. The agonized parents were frantic with grief, and the sympathising settlers from far and near, numbering hundreds, turned out and searched night and day, scouring the woods in every direction; but no trace of him could be discovered, with the exception of a small piece of his dress, which was found near the edge of a marsh. What became of the poor little fellow is to this day, a matter of conjecture; many believing that he wandered off to the Rat River marshes, which were partly frozen and got into some deep hole of mud and water.

Two years after this sad occurrence, the bereaved parents were informed that a Menominee woman, named Nah-Kom, was in possession of a child that was suspected to be the lost one. Mr. Partridge at once went to see Nah-Kom, who very kindly consented to go with her little boy to see Mrs. Partridge, and remained at Partridge's house over night. It became very evident to Mrs. Partridge that the child was not hers, as she failed to recognize any resemblance, and the boy showed no signs of remembering any of the things about the house, that the lost child was so familiar with; so Nah-Kom was suffered to depart with her child, who was a half-breed, and bore some resemblance to a white child, which was all the reason for the suspicion that it had been stolen.

Although the parents of the lost child, and especially the mother, were convinced at first that the boy with Nah-Kom was not their child, they seem to have been afterwards persuaded through the persistent efforts of friends, to take legal measures for the recovery of the child. Therefore, Mr. Partridge's brother, who was most persistent in the matter, took out the necessar}' papers, and accompanied by a deputy sheriff of Winnebago County, Kendrick Kimball, went to Nah-Kom's camp, which was then in the western part of Waushara County, and demanded the boy, who was to remain in the custody of the officer till the court determined the case. The Indians at once complied with the demands of the law, although poor Nah-Kom cried until she found she could accompany the child. Although the

Menominees had been invariably kind to the whites, and had in many instances saved many white families from perishing with hunger; still, the sheriff found eight or ten teams loaded with armed men, which shows how easy it is to create an unjust hostility toward the poor Indian.

Mr. Kimball, however, took no one with him but the parties immediately concerned, and found no difficulty with the Indians. He brought Nah-Kom with her little boy, and another Menominee woman for company for her, to Oshkosh, and kept the boy at his house over two weeks.

Those who were familiar with Indians, on seeing Nah-Kom and the child, had not the least doubt that the child was hers, and that it was a half-breed. The most conclusive evidence was given in favor of Nah-Kom's claim to be the mother of the boy; among other, that of a most estimable lady, Mrs. Dousman, of Keshena, who was cognizant of the child's baptism, and had seen him frequently from babyhood to the time of the trial. The interperter and traders, and the chief, Oshkosh, also testified to a personal knowledge of the child from the time of its birth.

After hearing all the evidence in the case the court allowed- Mr. Partridge to keep the child in his family, pending the decision. After duly considering the case, the court decided in favor of the claim of Nah-Kom, and the sheriff, with an order, started for the boy. Arriving at Partridge's house, the sheriff was told that if the boy went, Mr. Partridge must go too, and he was requested to wait till a team could be harnessed. The sheriff consented, but before the team was harnessed, some twenty men assembled and informed the sheriff that he could not have the boy. The child was then spirited away; but the Indian agent took measures by which the Menominees recovered him. The Partridges then instituted another trial before Judge Smith in Milwaukee. The court again decided in favor of the Indians, but that the child should remain in the hands of the sheriff for two days, to give the Partridges time to commence new proceedings, if the\' desired; but instead of taking legal measures to obtain him, they managed in some way to get possession of him and ran him off. This is what the Indians call white man's justice, and is to the certain knowledge of the writer, about a fair sample of the general treatment thej' have received at the hands of the whites.

The father and the mother of the lost child, if left to their own judgment, would not have made any effort to get the boy, believing it was not theirs; but the over-officiousness of irresponsible parties, worked up their feelings to a high pitch, which were intensified by the painful uncertainty ot the fate of their lost one. The bereaved parents were to be pitied, and so was the poor Indian mother, so unjustly bereft of her child.

The head men of the Menominees were in Milwaukee in attendance at the trial, and when the child was thus unlawfully taken away, they went to the Scntir/c/ office, accompanied by William Johnson, the interpreter. Captain William Powell, and Robert Grignon, to tell the world, through the medium of the press, of the wrong that had been done them. Their request was readily granted, when Oshkosh spoke as follows:

"We have called upon you, and have shaken hands with you with a good heart. We have come to ask your aid We want you to publish what we say. You see that I am growing gray. I am an old man. I have seen many years. I was quite a young man when the Americans came to my place at Green Bay. It was in \?>\C They shook hands with us, and told us they had come to live among us, and make us happy, and that if we followed their counsel, we should have no trouble. At a council we held, in 1827. at Little Buttes des Morts, General Cass told us the same thing - that the Americans were our friends, and if we followed their advice we should always be happy. Again, in 1836, at Cedar Point, we met Governor Dodge, who came from the General Government to treat with us, and told us that whatever he promised, our Great P'ather, the President, would perform. Our Great Father, he said, was very glad that we had submitted to his wishes, and made a treaty to cede a part of our lands. And he promised that our Great Father, the President, would always protect us like his own children, and would always hold our hands in his. Governor Dodge told us that our Great Father was very strong, and owned all the country, and that no one would dare to trouble us, or do us wrong, as he would protect us. He told us, too, that whenever we got into difficulty or anything happened we did not like, to call upon our Great I""ather, and he would have justice done. And now we come to you to remind our Great Father, through your paper, of his promise, and ask him to fulfill it. We alwaj's thought much of Governor Dodge, as an honest man, and we thought more of him when he came to us on the part of the Government. We believed all that he told us. We have done what we agreed to do. We have been always friendly with the whites, and have taken up arms for them against our Indian brothers. If any of our young men were foolish, the chiefs were the first to rebuke them, and to give them advice. We have respected our white neighbors, and now we want their help. It was at the paj'ment, at Lake Pauwaygan (Poygan), made by Colonel Jones, that this boy was born. I then lixed on the Wisconsin River, and was notified to come to the payment with my tribe. The roll had all been made up, and the payment was to be made the next day. During the night this boy was born. I was told of it in the morning, and asked Colonel Jones to put his name on the roll. The Colonel said this could not be, but if the chiefs were willing, the child should have his share. They were all willing; the boy's share was given to me, and I gave it to his mother. It was this same child - the same one now taken from us. And now we want your help to get back the child. We still hope to find him. We cannot give him up. We want you to satisfy the public that the child is ours. We hoped to take him home with us this time. We came from a great distance. Once before the child was carried off by force, after the law had decided in our favor, and now he is again carried away. We are grieved and disappointed. This is why we ask your help. "

Mr. Rich migrated from Lewis County, New \"ork, to this county in October, 1845, and entered the lands now comprised in his present farm. At that time the county was a wilderness, with onl)- three or four log-houses between Oshkosh and Neenali.

Mr. Rich in his migrations landed at She- ' boygan, and started on foot for Winnebago County. After reaching Ceresco he took the Indian trail which passed around the head of Rush Lake for Stanley's Ferry (now Oshkosh), and arrived at the river shore at dark, when he was ferried over and put up at Stanley's tav^. ern, on the present site of the Gang Mill. This tavern, with Amos Dodge's little Indian trading post and a few log-houses, constituted the Oshkosh of that day.

on the river shores near the ferry; and just after Mr. Rich's arrival Mr. Stanley came into the house with a pail of water and remarked to his family, "Charley Carron pushed me as I passed him, " when a woman said: "Stanley! You have got to kill that Indian, and you may as well do it now as any time. "

In a little while Stanley, who had again went out, came back to the house and saidthat Carron had struck at Dodge with a knife, and that the knife had entered a plug of tobacco in the pocket of the latter.

Mr. Rich now witnessed the scene that followed. Dodge picked up a handspike and struck Carron a blow with it that felled him, and then followed up the blow by giving Carron a terrible mauling. In the melee another Indian was accidentally struck by Dodge, which occasioned considerable feeling among the Indians who thought it had been done purposely. The only whites on the scene were the Stanleys, Amos Dodge, Charley Wescott, C. L. Rich and two other travellers. The row was kept up until midnight, when the Indians got Carrovv back to his camp and quiet prevailed.

In the morning Carron came into the house and took breakfast with them, and friendly feelings prevailed between the formerly belligerent parties. The fumes of the whiskey had passed off, and Carrow, for the time being, was a sadder but wiser man. The principal dish on the breakfast table was muskrat stew, and this was the first time Mr. Rich had ever tested its excellency.

After a general exploration of the country, he selected his present location and entered and paid for the same. Sometimes parties of Indians would camp on his place, and at first he was a little apprehensive. During the next year (1846), an immense immigration poured into this county and log-cabins sprang up in every direction; breaking and splitting rails was pushed with great vigor, and the work of improvement continued, until Winnebago County presented an expanse of cultivated farms.

In 1S46 Mr. Whittemore, one of Mr. Rich's neighbors sowed two hundred acres of winter wheat, and harvested a splendid crop, thirty bushels per .".ere of the finest quality of grain. Mr. Rich w as also successful in raising winter wheat. The herds of Indian ponies, which, at that time, were running at large, sometimes grazed it too close, but the settlers had the use of the ponies as a compensation. The best quality of w heat sold at the time for fifty cents a bushel.

that early day is now in a high state of cultivation. It is situated on Section 35 of the Town of Oshkosh, and contains 345 acres, with spacious barns and outbuildings, one of which is one hundred and twenty-five feet by forty-five feet, with twenty-four foot posts The yield of wheat has averaged twenty bushels per acre In connection with this farm Mr. Rich has a stock farm in Outagamie County, containing one thousand acres, on which he pastures all his young stock and where he keeps seventy milch cows, the milk of which is converted into cheese at the factory on his place. The old pioneer seems to have stuck his stakes in a good place for him, for he has prospered financially, physically and socially, having been a representative man of this county since his advent. He has been for several terms a leading member of the County Board, and represented his county in the State Legislature as senator.