Ridgeway Town

Ridgeway Town

Following the belts of mineral deposits, the miners swarmed into the mineral regions of the eastern quarter of the county in the spring of 1828.

J. B. Skinner settled in this town in 1828, and within a short time started a furnace, with Jacob Pate, who entered the town at the same time. In honor of the erection of the first furnace in the vicinity, the locality was dubbed Patesville.

Hugh R. Porter came to the town in the same year, and entered a smelting claim on the land which, to this day, has preserved the name of Porter's Grove. In the fall, James and William Morrisson built a " double-eye " furnace. About the same time, Thomas McRaney a " single-eye " furnace southwest from the Little Blue Mound, at the junction of Mound Creeks. The Rankin brothers also came in 1828, and, in 1829, sold their diggings to William Garrison and Patrick Horine ; hence the name Garrison's Grove.

J. D. Ansley smelted the first copper in Iowa County as early as 1835, and the ruins of his works are still visible about three miles south of Mineral Point, on the line of the railroad adjacent to the Mineral Point Branch. Another furnace was erected on the East Fork of the Mineral Point Branch, two miles from the depot, by Kendall, Preston & Co.

In 18.51, the first agricultural society was established in Iowa County, with II. L. Lefiingwell. President ; Henry M. Billings, Levi Sterling, P. O'Dowd, John Hand, F. J. Dunn and G. Goldthorp, Vice Presidents; Samuel Crawford, Treasurer, and William K. Smith. The society held its first meeting and fair October 1, 1851. This society is now supplemented by the Southwestern Agricultural Society, with headquarters at Mineral Point.

Various social organizations were perfected between the years 1850 and 1860. The most prominent association was the Miners' Co-operative and Protective Union, composed of miners from Green, Dane, La Fayette, Iowa and Grant Counties. The workings of the society were purely beneficial, being intended to benefit wives and families of deceased miners, to assist them in illness, and generally to protect individual mining interests. An art association existed here about 1857, but, owing to the more absorbing cares of business, it did not survive the second year.

First School And Physicians

The first school in the county was taught at Mineral Point in 1829 by Mrs. Harker and Beulah Lamb. The attendance numbered eight pupils, whose fiicilities for mastering the simple rudiments of the English language were plain beyond description. The schoolhouse was a wretched log cabin, with rough-hewn timber walls. 'The seats were made by inserting four wooden pegs in slabs of timber. The floor was composed of rough, puncheons, and pens and ink Were novelties beyond the flightiest imagination. With the institution of a school, the highway was paved for the reception of the arts and sciences. In 1828, Dr. E. Loof borrow appeared in Mineral Point from Gratiot's Grove, but did not tarry long in the budding town. He was succeeded by Dr. Mannegan, of ALssouri, who permanently located at Mineral Point. Dr. Morrison made his appearance about the same time at Helena. On the north side of the county, Dr. Justine settled at Dodgeville during 1828, also.

Old Helena

The settlement of the northern section is almost parallel with the earliest claims in the south or central portion of the county. Advantage was taken of the Wisconsin River to transport merchandise and convey the raw products to market. The brightest prospects were freely canvassed, and, in the temporary location of the county seat at Helena, we witness the presumptuous overreaching of an a?piring community. As early as 1828, a village was laid out, surveyed and staked, in what is now known as McHutchins' place. This was laid out by Gen. Dodge, Col. Moore, McRaney and others, and is conspicuous only as having been the first village platted in the county. Several cabins were erected that fall by miners from Dodgeville, Mineral Point and surrounding locality. Here were built, in 1829, the first boats launched from the shores of Iowa County. The crafts were of the flat-boat type, the only kind for which the shallow waters of the river were navigable. The lumber was sawed by John Lindsay and Mr. Morrison, the work being done with a pit or whip saw, where one man stood in a pit and the other on top of the log. The first boat was built by MeCaul and Judd. Later in the same year. Collyer, Lay, Dunn and the Morrison brothers built a flat-boat. The logs, from which the lumber was sawed, were obtained from the opposite banks of the river.

The first attempt to inaugurate a manufacture suitable to this region was made here in 1833, when Daniel Whitney, Platte & Co. undertook the manufacture of various grades of shot. A tower was erected at the mouth of Mill Creek, and for many years it afforded a home market for quantities of lead. Owing to the instability of the lessees and the frequent transfer of the proprietorship, the manufacture gradually weakened, and finally ceased. The United States Government located officers here in 182!' for the collection of lead rents. Frank Guion was subagent, representing Col. Wight, of Galena. A building was subsequently erected in which were kept military supplies until 1833, when the premises were abandoned and the supplies disposed of to the miners.

G. W. Featherstonhaugh, who voyaged down the Wisconsin in 1836, thus sums up his Helena experience : '' At 9 o'clock, A. M., wc reached a shot-tower belonging to Mr. Whitney, on the left baak of the river, and landed. there to breakfast. As soon as the canoe was fastened to the shore, we trudged to the agent's house, to which the name Helena had been given. Mr. Whitney's nephew and wife received me civilly, and insisted upon entertaining me with breakfast, which, when I had dispatched, I went to see what they called the shot-tower, where lead, brought from the lead districts of Wisconsin, not many miles off", is cast into shot of various sizes. This shot-tower was not one of the ordinary columns tiiat rise to a great height from the surface, but was a cylindrical excavation, ingeniously made in an escarpment of the incoherent sandstone, 200 feet in height. The lead was melted at the top, and afterward poured down to a chamber below. The whole contrivance did great credit to the proprietor. From the top of the escarpment, I had an extensive view of the Wisconsin, with the broad bottoms of fertile soil on each side of it, forming, altogether, a rich valley about two miles in breadth, once occupied entirely by this flood, in the ancient state of the river, ami which liad contracted itself into its present channel, either upon that last retreat of the waters of the country, or from its diminution by the gradual drainage of the country. * * * In treating, however, of these physical phenomena analytically, a distinction is to be observed. Some of the valleys may have been formed on the general retreat of the ocean from a continent, on its first appearance, and some on the retreat of an inland sea of fresh water, such as that which has produced the valley of the Wisconsin, with its coves and dells coming into at right angles, all abounding in natural and beautiful plantations of trees and shrubs. But, whether these fine vales are owing to one cause or the other, it is evident that they have both been instruments, in the hand of Providence, to embellish that surface of the earth which was to be inhabited by the human family.

Mr. Whitney's agent informed me that galena was found within twenty miles of the shottower ; and, in examining some of the highest parts of the escarpment, I found a sparry, calcareous rock, resembling that in which the galena is found in the State of Missouri - a fact which led to the inference that the galena of this district might also be inclosed in equivalent strata. I left Helena at 11 A. M. The morning was beautiful, and, having made a good breakfast, I went gliding on and enjoying the scenery. Near 1 P. M., we came up with a mass of sandstone, which had fallen off from an escarpment about thirty feet in height, for about two hundred feet in length ; the water had underworn it, and, being loose and incoherent, it had peeled off, leaving a sniootli fiice. About 2 P. M., we stopped at a little cove to let the men dine, at a place where I found what I had not met with before - an industrious family in a clean wigwam. About 2:30 P. M., we were afloat again, and soon passed a fine stream coming in from the right bank (Pine River). Tlie country here wa? remarkably beautiful, the slopes of the banks gracefully Wfioded, and occasionally interrupted by coves. For a distance of about three miles, the escarpments were about two hundred and fifty feet high, the rock every now and then jutting out and taking a castellated appearance. It was evident, from the manner in which the sections presented themselves on the banks, that the surface of the country in the interior must be very undulating. I observed, too, that the incoherent structure of the sandstone had been favorable to Indian talent; the figures of deer, men and horses, sometimes well executed, being cut in it, and, sometimes, painted with a red bole. The swallows had availed themselves of the softness of the rock by picking holes and building their nests there in innumerable quantities. This loose texture of the rock is to be detected also in the tops of the hills, which are gracefully rounded off, the incoherent rock having yielded to the action of the atmosphere. In these parts of North America, the arenaceous beds are of immense extent, and it goes beyond the power of man's imagination to form even a proximate idea of the ancient state of things which existed before the particles of sand, now so loosely combined, formed an integral portion of the hard, quartzose rock from which they seem to have been derived. How remote that period must have been from the present! About 6 P. M., we stopped for the night at a bold bank, up which the men had to carry the butin to a commodious encampment.

Subsequently, in 1837, the same author wrote: " On reaching the shot-tower on the bunk of the Wisconsin, I found everything much improved since my visit there in 1835. Although called a tower, it was, in fact, a perpendicular cylinder cut from the top of the escarpment through the incoherent sandstone to a depth of one hundred and eighty feet, and the adit below from the surface of the escarpment to the water-tub was ninety feet long. Their method in the manufacturing of shot was to put ten pounds of arsenic to every one thousand pounds of galena, to make the lead brittle and disposed to separate ; three-fourths of this arsenic evaporates whilst melting, and does not combine with the lead. The lead, when melted a second time, is poured through a perforated ladle, an<l falls from the top of the tower into the water below in all sorts of sizes and shapes. When taken out and dried, it is poured over ;) series of inclined planes, separated by small troughs. Those globules which are quite orbicular, run over all the planes, while the imperfect ones waddle along, and, being sometimes double and having no spring in their movements, drop into the troughs and are melted over again. The perfect shot are finally sifted in a machine containing various drawers with their bottoms perforated in holes of all sizes, from buckshot to mustard-seed. This machine is moved by the hand. The shot, when separated into sorts, is glazed and put into bags.

Rut a very short time ajjo, the whole country was a wilderness, containins; only a few roaming Winnebagoes, and already the white men have establisheil a well-conducted and prosperous manufactory. Having got something to eat at the house, we lay down to sleep on the floor and surrendered ourselves to myriads of pitiless mosquitoes.

" What with the mosquitoes and the heavy thunder and rain that were performing almost the whole night, I rose at the dawn sleepless and feverish. Tiie Wisconsin River, which interested me so much when I came down it in my canoe in 1835, was as beautiful as ever. Having got a cup of coffee, we left its banks about U A. M., and returned to our guides, where, taking leave of our hospitable friends, we proceeded on our return to Mineral Point, which we reached about 4 in the afternoon."

James Estes hail a log furnace four miles northwest of Dodgeville, in 1828. James and William Morrison's furnace, at Porter's Grove, in Ridgeway.

The firm of Tay, Collier k Dunn had a furnace about one and one-half miles west of Messersmith's furnace, in the town of Dodireville ; built in 1828.

The First Census

The first census enumeration was made in 1834 by Levi Sterling. Then there were 5,400 white persons residing in what is now the State of Wisconsin ; 2,633 of whom were living in the County of Iowa.

Aside from the above, it is impossible to arrive at accurate deductions in the absence of the census books, but herewith are appended the names enumerated in four districts by P. F. Dillon, and returned to the County Clerk May 16, 1838. This census was taken according to an act approved December 30, 1837 :

Territorial Roads

By act approved December 9, 1836, Draper Ruggles, Joseph Payne, Noah Davis, Joseph Kelly and Andrew Kline were authorized as Commissioners to ^y out a Territorial road commencing at James' Ferry, in Rock County ; from there to Rockford, passing through Centerville. New Mexico, White Oak Springs, in La Fayette County, and thence to the Mississippi. The road was simply marked by blazing trees. The road was to be platted and a plat filed in the office of the Clerk of each county.

The first Territorial road of 1837 was laid out under an act approved December 30, 1837. John Moore, John Van Matre, Andrew Kline, Thomas Chilton and Robert C. Hoard, were appointed Commissioners to lay out a road commencing at the north boundar}' line of the State of Illinois, in Town 1, of Range east, and running thence on the nearest route to New Mexico, in Green County, and by way of Wiota, in La Fayette County, Mineral Point, in Iowa County, and Belmont, to the Mississippi. They were to begin the work on the first Monday in May, 1830, at Mineral Point, and complete it as soon as possible. This road was to be kept in order by the counties through which it passed.

By act of January 11, 1838, John Dowling and James Sproule were authorized to build a toll bridge over the West Pecatonica, at a point near their furnace, providing that said parties made good macadamized roads over the flats at that place.

Under a Legislative enactment, approved June 23, 1838, William Baldwin, Dennis C. Neal and James Kendall were appointed to lay out a Territorial road between Mineral Point and White Oak Springs, now in La Fayette County, where it united with the old Territorial road laid out in 1836. The road ran by the way of Kendall's Mills and New Diggings. Work was to be begun on the second Monday of August, 1838.

On June 23, 1838, Lewis Curtis, W. J. Martin and G. W. Hickox were appointed Commissioners to locate two roads ; one from Mineral Point, through Elk Grove to Galena, and another, from Mineral Point easterly, to intersect the military road near Blue Mounds, running from Prairie du Chien to Green Bay.

By the same act, R. C. Hoard, John Messersmith, Sr., and H. L. Dodge were appointed Commissioners to establish a road from Mineral Point, through Dodgeville, to Helena, on the Wisconsin River.

Charles F. Legate, Henry M. Billings and C. Moore were appointed to lay out a road from Mineral Point, through Diamond Grove, to the Wisconsin River.

Education is the invisible monitor that controls our existence, and teaches us to discriminate between moral obligations and the insidious advances of evil. Without knowledge, ni:in would be a helpless barbarian, deprived of all icsthetic sense, to appreciate the beautiful that meets the range of our vision, and equally powerless to encompass the dominating beauties of creation. The groveling savage, content with the fleeting pleasures of a day, and reckless of what tlie morrow will bring forth, is but a type of besotted ignorance. Environed, as we are, with educational facilities; with schoolhousos multiplying in geometrical proportion, the senses fail to grasp the incalculable advantages gained in the possession of even rudimentary instruction.

That knowledge alone, circumscribed as it may be, is sufficient to teach us how to approximate the value of earthly and ethereal entities. Wisconsin is predominant in the character of her scholastic institutions, and annually their importance is augmented by the perfection of details governing the cliscipline and management of rural schools, supervised by the County Superintendent of Education.

According to an act adopted by the Legislature at an extra legislative session convened in August, 1839, the county was divided into sixteen school districts, in conformity with the provisions of the enactment. At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the number was increased to twenty-one. The limits of the various school districts, and the first inspectors elected, appear below.

School District N^o. 1. - To comprise Town No. 1, and south half of Town 2, Range 2 east. Inspectors - James Howe, James Murphy, Abraham Looney, R. II. Champion and Charles Gear.

District No. 2. - The north half of Town 2, and the south half of Town 3, Range 1 east. Inspectors - Charles Dunn, John Messersmith, Sr., D.J. Seeley, Alexander Willard and Justus DeSeelhorst.

District No. 3. - North half of Town .3, ami Towns 4 and 5, of Range 1 east. Inspectors - John Moore, F. C. Kirkpatrick, James Wiswell, John Newman and C. DeLong.

District No. 4- - Towns ti, 7 and 8, of Range 1 east. Inspectors - Thomas D. Potts. D. E. Piirrish, Moses Darnell, Moses Meeker and Lemuel Gillam.

District No. 5. - Towns 1 and 2, north of Range 2 east. Inspectors - John W. Blackstone. Samuel H. Scales, Henry Smith, Fortunatus Berry and Charles Gratiot.

District No. G. - Towns 3 and 4, of Range 2 east. Inspectors - Francis Vivian, R. W. Carson, Benjamin Denson, Abner Westrope and Joseph Hatch.

District No. 7. - Towns 5. 6, 7 and 8, of Range 2 east. Inspectors - John B. Terry, Stephen B. Thrasher, Paschal Bequette, Charles F. Legate and Alex Blair.

District No. 8. - Towns 1 an(i 2, of Range 3 east. Inspectors - R. H. McGoon, Benjamin Funk, Francis Clyma, Alexander Moore and Peter Corrish.

District No. 10. - Town 4 of Range 3 east. Inspectors - Charles Bracken, John Loofborroft", Robert W. Gray, James Ilitchkins and John Smith.

District No. 12. - Towns 6, 7 and 8, Range 3 east. Inspectors - Henry L. Dodge, John Jenkins, John Lindsey, Robert S. Black and Thomas Jenkins.

District No. I'f. - Towns 3 and 4, Range 4 east. Inspectors - Jesse Miller, William Parkinson. John Van Metre, William Burrett and M. G. Fitch.

District No. 15. - Towns 5, 6, 7 and 8, of Range 4 east. Inspectors - George W. Hickox, James Morrison, John B. Skinner, John Metcalf and William Garrison.

District No. 16. - Towns 1 and 2, Range 5 east. Inspectors - James McKnight, James McMurtry, Benjamin Million, Thomas Chelton and Henry Johnson.

The first organized movement to foster education is noted in 1841. A ta.x of $2,967.50 levied by the County Board of Supervisors, for the support of schools and erection of schoolhouses. This year the first school return furnished proof of the existence of seventeen school districts, comprising 76-3 children of school age. Divided into districts the school population was as follows: District No. 1, 100 scholars; No. 2, 40; No. 3, 76 ; No. 17, 41 ; No. 7, 53; Apple River, 14; Union District No. 9, 77; No. 11, 143; No. 12, 42; No. 13, 42; No. 14, 51 ; No. 16, 32; No. 17, out of 13 and 16, 62.

County School Work Since 1843

The County Board cf School Commissioners was organized April 23, 1844, when the first meeting was held. Only two Commissioners, James I. Bawden and William Baldwin were present. The subject of re-organizing the existing school districts, and establishing them on a recognized basis of operation occupied the meeting. The question of collecting rents on mineral mined in school lands, and issuing licenses to miners was determined, and a notice was issued requesting the Trustees of the several organized school districts to meet the Commissioners at Mineral Point in May, 1844. All persons interested, where the country was not districted into school sections, were asked to be present at the same time and place, furnisheil with a plat of their district as organized, or a plat of any district that was to be set off into a separate district. Also to recommend to the Commissioners such persons as would be reliable to collect rents on mineral, where mineral was raised in any such section, and to guard against trespass. Teachers who had not submitted to an examination and received certificates, were also notified to attend.

Districts that had not chosen Trustees were ordered to hold an election on Monday, May 13, 1844, and elect one Clerk, three Trustees and one Collector. All free white male inhabitants, over twenty years of age, were qualified to vote.

At the ensuing meeting, twenty school districts were organized. Teachers' certificates were granted to Edward Sullivan and Croyten Sargent. A number of petitions for leasing school lands were received, and, pending the issuance of leases, mining permits were granted to Israel Woodward & Co., Andrew Roberts, Broke & Simpson, David & J. F. Roberts, James L. Clark, G. F. Rock, John Ryan and A. A. Townsend & Co. At another meeting, all School Trustees were appointed legal agents to collect this rental, and they were ordered to report to the Commissioners, at their next session, the disposition made of all mineral in their district ; that they take charge of the 16th Range nearest them, and to report trespassers and the amount of damage committed, and to report any person then settled on the 16th Section, " as it is impossible for the Commissioners to personally superintend all the forty 16th Sections in the county."

In September of the same year, the following school districts were laid off: Coon Branch District No. 4 ; Benton District No. 3 ; New Diggings Precinct No. 1 ; ' Mill Seat Bend District No. 2 ; White Oak Springs, Corrish District, Barreltown, Upper Diggings, Union, Hunter's, Whiteside Branch, Fever River, District No. 1, Town 18, and Prairie District.

The receipts from lead rents in 1844 amounted to $383.65, which was distributed amongst the several school districts at the rate of 18 cents per scholar After allowing for 1,921 scholars, the balance, $37.40, was passed to the credit of school accounts for 1845. On petition. Blue River District, in Town 6, Range 1 east, was attached to Towns 6 and 7, Range 1 west, in Grant County, for school purposes.

During the past year, three new schoolhouses were built, and two of them furnished with the latest style of patent seats. There are, however, several schoolhouses in the county totally unsuited for school purposes. Some of these are in wealthy districts, that, according to the County School Superintendent's report, can present no excuse for not building new schools, except a mistaken idea of economy. On the whole, the buildings and surroundings will compare favorably with any in the State. Those in the western and northern parts of the county wero highly eulogized, on their neat and comfortable appearance, by the State Superintendent in his address before the Institute of Dodgeville, in August, 1879. One hundred and seventy-eight applicants attended the annual spring and fall examinations.

The compulsory system has been a dead letter, so far as this county is concerned, not a single instance of enforced attendance having occurred. This is not due to the fact that tiie parents not all law abiding in this respect, but it must be attributed entirely to the indifference or lack of inclination to enforce it on the part of school officers.

The Institute at Dodgeville was, in many respects, the most successful ever held in the county. The work was principally primary, and was just what a large majority of the county teachers needed. The attendance was 125, with an average attendance of 1<I2. Nearly all the districts have adopted series of text books, and present appearances indicate that ttieir introduction will soon become general. From observation and comparison, it is believed that the schools are in a fairly progressive state, and will compare favorably with those of surrounding counties. Much remains to be done by teaciiers, school officers and friends of the public school system, to elevate the schools to the highest standard to wiiich they can attain.

The county is now divided into 10- school districts, all of which have conformed to the State laws by furnishing an annual report. From these reports, it is found that the number of children of school age in Iowa County aggregates 8,211, of whom 4,205 are boys, and the remainder (4,006) are girls. Of 1,718 children in the district, between the ages of 4 and 7 years, 1.197 attended school. Between the ages of 7 and 15, there were 3,886 pupils, of whom 8,449 were reported in attendance at school. The number of teachers engaged to marshal the foregoing, aggregates 201, inclusive of males and females. Situated in the different districts of the county are Vii> schoolhouses, with the most commodious located in the village of Dodgeville, with a reputed capacity of 1,450 pupils; Clyde claims the smallest, with accommodations for 200 scholars. The value of school property is estimated at $44,580, with apparatus valued at $1,902. The average salary disbursed to male teachers monthly, is §29.8.3 ; to females, $21.36. There is a high school at Avoea, operating under a curriculum, having one male Principal, and two female teaciiers. This school was established in 1876, and, during the past, averaged an attendance of 39 pupils.

A teachers' institute was held at Dodgeville August 28, 1880, under the conductorship of D. McGregor and Abbie White. The session was continued for nine days, during which time 125 teachers attended.

Chapter 111

TiiK Black Hawk War - Dodge's Letteu and the Mineral Point Messenger - First Military :Movement and Forts - Distriiu'ting Supplies - Account of Arms Distributed at Mineral Point - Occurrences at ISIound Fort - Fort Jackson Alarmed - Battle of the Pecatonica - Battle of Wisconsin Heights and Bad Axe - Grignon's Recollections.

Dissatisfied with the embodiments of the Rock River treaty of 1831, Black Hawk, and the Indian tribes paying hira allegiance as their chief, proceeded, in the spring of 1832, to assert their misconceived right to the disputed land at the mouth of the Rock River. In April, 1882, he crossed the Mississippi with his braves, squaws, tepees, and the general litter of an aboriginal encampment, intending to ascend the Rock River and unite his forces with tlie allied strength of the VVinnebago and Pottawatomie tribes. Gen. Atkinson, with a body of United States troops, had ascended the Mississippi in steamboats, and, learning of Black Hawk's infraction of the treaty, dispatched several express messengers to the renowned chief, ordering him, peremptorily, to return within the prescribed reserve. Black Hawk replied with a resolution expressing his adamantine determination to pursue his course in peace, if not molested. The infor.. mation of the Indian transmigration struck terror into the heart of the mineral regions and paralyzed trade ; the pick and gad were forsaken for the more deadly musket and bayonet, and, throughout this widespread district, the news was conveyed with remarkable speed, by special couriers or express messengers, as they were designated.

The warlike rumors reached Mineral Point in the first week of May, 1832, accompanied by the intelligence that Black Hawk had crossed the Mississippi and taken possession of his ancient village at Rock Island ; also that Gen. Atkinson was ascending the river from St. Louis with troops. It was likewise reported that Gov. Reynolds was to join him at Dixon's Ferry, on Rock River, with the Illinois militia, for the purpose of protecting the country and compelling Black Hawk to evacuate the Territory. In this predicament, fears were justly entertained by the miners, that, in the event of defeat, the scene of war would be transferred to their own vicinity.

In anticipation of such an untoward circumstance. Col. Henry Dodge addressed the following letter to Gov. Reynolds, requesting a resume of his plans of operations.

Dear Sir - The exposed situation of the settlements of the mining district, to the nttiicks of the Indian enfmy, makes it a matter of deep and vital interest to us that we should be apprised of the movements of the mounted men under your Excellency's immediate command. Black Hawk and his band, it, is stated by the latest advices we have had on this subject, was to locate himself above Dixon's Ferry, on Rock River. Should tlie mounted men under your retreat would be on our settlements. There are now collected, wiiliin twenty miles above our settlements, about two hundred Winnebagoes, and, should the Sauks be forced into the Winnebago country, many of the wavering of that nation would unite with the hostile Sauks. I have no doubt it is part of the policy of this banditti to unite themselves as well with the Pottawntomies and Winneb-^goes. It is absolutely important to tlie safety of this country, that the people here should be sipprised of the intended movements of your army. Could you detach a part of your coiniiiand across the Rock River, you would aifonl our settlement immediate protection, and we would promptly unite with you with such a mounted force as we could bring into the field. Judge Gentry, Col. .Moore and James P, Cox, Esq., will wait on your Excellency, and receive your answer.

Soon after, Daniel M. Parkinson was dispatched from Mineral Point as a messenger to John Dixon, of Dixon, III., who was a particular friend of the Sacs and Foxes, and to Henry Gratiot, the Winnebago Indian Agent, to ascertain the true state of affairs. Mr. Parkinson was gone three days ; the result of the mission being to confirm the above reports. This created no little alarm among the inhabitants, and caused them to at once begin to prepare for defense.

First Military Movement And Forts

After the battle of Stillman's Run, Gov. Reynolds vouchsafed to dispatch an express messenger with a reply to Col. Dodge, informing him of the facts of Stillman's stampede, and that Iowa County was in imminent danger from attacks of the Indians.

In the meantime. Col. Dodge, despairing of an immediate reply, collected together a few trusty and stout settlers and miners from the vicinities of Miiieriil Point and Dodgeville, among whom was the Colonel's second son, Augustus C. Dodge, now of Burlington, Iowa. This organized corps of volunteers departed from Mineral Point about the dtli day of May, for a reconnoitering expedition to the supposed location of Hlack Hawk's warriors. They proceeded by way of Apple River to Buffalo Grove, at whicii place an Indian trail was discovered, leading to Rock River, at a point nearly opposite the Kishwakuee, and within a few miles of the ground on which Maj. Stillman and his entire command were so disastrously routed. On receiving the Governor's communication, Col. Dodge instantly returned home, alarmed the inhabitants of the mining country, and advised them to fortify and unite for mutual protection and defense. Unanimous in aim, and animated by the vital impulse of self-preservation, the respective settlements organized and erected forts and stockades, whereby the insinuating redskin could be repelled with the minimum of danger to those protected by the stout oaken timbers. Fifteen block-houses were built. They were named and located at the following exposed points : Fort Jackson, at Mineral Point; Fort Union, at Dodge's private residence, south of Dodgeville; Fort Napoleon, at Diamond Grove, in tiie town of Linden ; Fort Jones, in the Blue River District (town of Highland), and a block-house at Helena, in Iowa County; Fort Hamilton, (in town of Wiota) ; Fort Defiance, in the town of Willow Springs ; Fort Gratiot, at Gratiot's Grove ; fort at Shullsburg ; Fort de Seelhorst, in Elk Grove and White Oak Springs ; fort in La Fayette County : Parish's Fort, at Wingville ; fort at Cassville, and fort at Platteville, in Grant County; Mound Fort, near the Little Blue Mound, in Dane County.

Fort Jackson was situated on the land now occupied by a livery stable, on Commerce street, in the vicinity of the Mineral Point depot, and faced in an easterly direction. The east front extended from the south corner of James James' harness shop to what was then Jerusalem street, since changed to Fountain street. From that point, the outer walls extended sufficiently far north and west to form a perfect sijuare. Since 1832, seven or eight feet of land have been excavated from the side of thi; hill, completely changing the conformation of the surface and destroying all relics of the old stockades. Work was commenced by digging a deep trench, or ditch, around the outlined area ; then the men were dispatched into the surrounding woods to cut down and prepare appropriate timber for the outer defenses. Logs were taken from contiguous cabins, and, being sharpened on one end, were planted in the ditch ; the soil was then filled in, firmly imbedding the posts three feet deep. Inside the walls, slabs or puncheons were spiked -over spots wherever an opening or aperture presented itself. In the southeast angle, was a blockhouse and sentry box, projecting above the tops of the palisades, and a similar structure occupied the northwest corner. Two openings furnished means of exit and entrance ; one, a gateway in the southeast corner, was composed of massive timbers; a smaller entrance smilarly constructed was located in the northwest angle. Centrally situated, were several cabins to shelter the garrison and their families. Col. Moore was the commandant. Indolence was not an attribute of those early times, and the long summer days swiftly glided by in the manufacture of bullets to supply the volunteers then afield. The process was simple. A hearth or fire-place of stone would be built, whereon a huge cauldron would be placed, then a pig of lead would be inserted, and, when it was reduced to a fluid state by the brisk blaze, the women of the fort would collect and ladle out the metal into bullet molds with iron spoons ; a second person, armed with a knife, would receive the bullet and render it spherical by detaching the small tongues of lead adhering from the mold.

Distributing Supplies

Mineral Point, or Fort Jackson, was virtually the seat of war, and actual heatlquarters, during the campaign. Here all the miners concentrated for their own safety, and hither came the commanders of the county forts to recruit their supplies. The Point was the distributing center whence all supplies were doled out under the supervision of United States Quartermaster George B. Cole. At the first intimation of war, the United States Government ordered a liberal supply of war munitions to be dispatched to Fort Jackson, from Prairie du Chien. They were received by Capt. Estes, and. as by him entered in the Quartermaster's book, were as follows : 19.") stand of arms, muskets, bayonets, wipers andscrew-drivers, except cartridge-boxes ; 9 small swords and belts. June 9, from G. W. & John Atchison, Galena, 111., 3 kegs gunpowder, 150 stands of arms (muskets), 2 swivel guns, 1,000 ball cartridges, 150 boxes belts, very much worn ; 150 flints, 20 lbs of cannon balls, 2 tt)3 of slow matches, 1 old saddle, 3 kegs powder, sundries for mounted miners. From G. W. & John Atchison, 12 blankets, 7 bridles and 2 old saddles. On the 12th inst. were received, 10 saddles of good quality, 23 good blankets and 24 grass lines. From P. A. Lorimer, Diamond Grove, 2 bridles, 3 blankets, 2 cotton saddle blankets, 6 saddles, 12 bridles, 18 surcingles and girchs were added to the stores on the 15th.

The contractors for furnishing Sutlers' supplies and munitions of war, during the war, were G. W. & John Atchison, of Galena, 111., and James Morrison and P. A. De Lorimier, of Diamond Grove. George B. Cole was Regimental Quartermaster, and from his journal the following entries are taken as they appear in that book :

Account Of Arms Distributed At Mineral Point

Robert C. Hoard, Captain at Fort Defiance, seventeen United States muskets and accouterments. Col. Dodge's order for his Fort at home, two boxes, forty stands and accouterments; also four hundred cartridges. Capt. Delong, at Fort Deselhorst, thirty United States muskets and accouterments. Capt. Uountree, at PlatteTille, twenty United States muskets and accouterments, got by Mc-

Cormack. Jolin Lindsay, Orderly Sergeant of mounted men, six United States muskets and accouterments : also eighty cartridges. Richard Kirkpatrick, of the mounted men, to Col. Dodge's order, four muskets. Capt. Gentry and Lieut. Davidson's Mounted Miners, six United States muskets and accouterments, and forty cartridges. June 1. 18X2. - To John B. Terry, Captain at Fort Bonaparte, twelve United States muskets. June 0, 1832. - To Capt, Moore, at Fort Jackson, twenty guns.

The order of the .Adjutant, six muskets to several persons, their receipts being taken. June 2, 1832. - To William Kendle, one musket for to join Col. Dodge at Fort Gratiot.

The mounted men detached for the Blue Mounds, seven United States muskets and accouterments. June 11, 1832. - To Warren Lewis, Commissary, one United States musket.

Henry Messersmith, one United States swivel, for the Fort at Blue Mounds. June 12, 1882. - To Capt .John Moore, at Fort Jackson, sixteen United States muskets.

May 28, 1832. - To Thomas J. Parrish and C«|a. James Jones, two muskets, taken out of the wagon on the road from Prairie du Chien to Mineral Point.

James Gentry, James P. Cox, P. Bequette, Capt. Delong, Thomas Hynes, George Robinson, James Jones and Thomas Parrish, each one public sword. June 13, 1832. - To (i. B. Cole, Quartermaster, one United States musket.

June 15, 18.32. - To Col. Dodge's order, one box containing twenty muskets, one swivel and twenty pounds of musket balls. June 21, 1832. - To Fort Jones, on Blue River, five United States muskets, twelve pounds of powder and twenty

John Porter, one United Slates musket. June 29, 1832. - To Henry Blaney, one United Slates musket. July 1, 1832. - To John Fenemore, one United Slates musket.

On June 10, equestrian equipments, consisting of blankets, bridles, saddles and surcingles, were delivered to John Hood, Sarauel Patrick, John Woods, Horace Auchiens, Austin Palmer, Philip Gates, W. W. Standerford, Mason Wooton, William Sublette, William B. Dean, Lawson Hood, John Doujiherty, Willis St. John, James Beddict, William Brown, Thomas Webster, and si.x outfits to D. M. Parkinson for the rangers at Fort Defiance. On June 15, by orders of Adjt. Woodbridge, five new saddles, three bridles and blankets, were delivered to the rangers. To D. M. Parkinson, five saddles and bridles, and seventeen halters. Portions of equipments were supplied to Col. Dodge, Edward Davis, Charles Lewis, John R. Ewing, J. B. Hunter, Thomas Denson, George Willard, R. H. Kirkpatrick and A. C. Dodge.

The horses attached to Fort Jackson were procured by Capt. James Jones, from Prairie du Chien, and were distributed as follows by the Quartermaster: Eleven horses were sent to Fort Defiance, and twenty mounted volunteers, under command of John F. O'Neill, were detached from the Mineral Point garrison to do duty at Blue Mounds. Subsequently, single allotments were made to Pleasant Ewing, Capt. Gentry, Bennet Hany, John R. Ewing and a man named Morrison.

Late in May, Col. Dodge was seized with a secret distrust of the Winnebago Indians, fearing that their treacherous nature might assert itself in favor of the rebellious warriors. Nourishing the overt suspicion. Col. Dodge called upon Capt. Gentry's company of mounted miners toescort him to the head of the Four Lakes, where, in the assumed capacity of a Peace Commissioner, he proposed to hold a powwow with the suspected tribe, and to obtain a renewal of their fealty to the American Government. The interview resulted in a reiteration of the treaty obligations and a peace declaration.

Occurrences At Mousd Fort

The Blue Mounds at this early date constituted one of the outposts of Western civilization, and, from their sequestered situation, offered many advantages to a prowling enemy. The proximity of the settlement to Indian Territory only enhanced its precariousness, and instigated the inhabitants, at the first outbreak, to resort to "defensive measures. The Mound Fort was commenced on May 10, 183'2, and completed in two weeks from that time, the labor being chiefly of a desultory character. The buildings consisted of two block-houses, each about twenty feet square, and a log building in the center, about thirty feet by twenty feet, for a storehouse and barracks. The whole was inclosed by a picket fence, about one hundred and fifty feet on each of the four sides. The pickets were of stout oak, about sixteen or seventeen feet high, planted about three feet in the ground. The fort was situated on a commanding site, about a mile south of the Eastern Mound. Capt. James Aubrey was the authority in command until the date of his death, June 6. Edward Bouchard was promoted from First Lieutenant. The charge, subsequently, devolved on Capt. John Sherman. The garrison was composed of fifty men, who were enrolled May 20, 1832. Their names were Ebenezer Brigham, John C. Kellogg, John Daniels, George Force, Thomas McRaney, John Messersmith, William Collins, Jacob Keith, John Sherman, Robert Collins, Jonathan Ferrill, Moses Collins, Moses Foreman, A. G. Aubrey, Esau Johnston, A. G. Houton, Jeremiah Lycan, Jason Putnam, Alpha Stevens, Hugh Bowen, John Steward, John Dolbey, Daniel Evans, James Hanlon, William H. Houghton, Ed Bouchard, James Hayes, Thomas Hillson, James Smith, Jefferson Smith, R. S. Lewis, Solomon Watson, Harvey Brock, Samuel Davis, Fernando McRaney, Milton McRaney, Allen Rand, Henry Starr, Anson Frazier, J. B. Deshon, Samuel Woodworth, Emerson Green, John Messersmith, Jr., Henry and George Messersmith, Robert Crayton, Albert Hunt, French Lake and Henry Powell. The ladies who shared in their husbands' fortunes were Mrs. Aubrey, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Green, Mrs. Kellogg, Mrs. Farrell, Mrs. McCraney and Mrs. Woodworth, together with several young children.

On the 6th day of June, James Aubrey, a member of Col. Ebenezer Brigham's family, was killed at the spring, about a mile and a half from the Mound Fort, whither he had gone for water. This treacherous deed was the handiwork of Sac Indians, who had been piloted to the place by a Winnebago guide. On the 20th of June, a small party of Indians were perceived hovering around the Mound Fort, with the object of discovering their intentions. Lieut. Force and Private Green mounted their horses, and rode forth on the prairie toward the enemy. The officer advanced cautiously ; but, despite this guard, he was inveigled into an ambush, and instantly killed. Green, who was retracing his way, was pursued, overtaken and massacred. A heavy gold chronometer, owned by Lieut. Force, was taken by the savages, who ruthlessly mutilated the lifeless corpse. Preceding the battle of the Wisconsin Heights, in the vicinity of the Third Lake, a straggling Indian, in the rear of Black Hawk's band, was shot down, and the body permitted to lie in his tracks, as the men, fearing vermin or infection, refused to approach it. In the following spring, a prairie fire swept that territory. Subsequently, Wallace Rowan happened along, and, in the crumbling skeleton form, discovered a gold watch bearing Lieut. Force's inscription. Rowan retained the watch for some time ; but finally restored it to the fiimily of the murdered man. This attack occurred in full view of the stockade, yet the garrison were powerless to assist their comrades. Col. Dodge, who was then at Union Fort, on being informed of the attack, hastily summoned his men, and set out on the war-path at night. On the 24th inst., he passed Blue Mounds, and followed the Indian trail to Sugar River, where the footprints diverged in every direction, denoting the disbandment and separation of the Indian body. To advance further would prove futile exertion, so they returned to Dodgeville, on the way interring the bodies of Force and Green.

On his route south. Col. Dodge sent a messenger, with instructions to Fort Defiance and Mineral Point, to raise what force could be mounted, and proceed to the scene of the Aubrey murder. Just before that time, a number of French ponies had been brought down from Prairie du Chien, for the use of the inhabitants of the mining district, and which were already mounted by a company of about thirty men, of whom Daniel M. Parkinson was one. When this troop arrived at Blue Mounds, they found that the body of William Aubrey had been decently interred. After remaining there one day, and reconnoitering the country, the company, which was commanded by Capt. John F. O'Neill, returned by way of Fretwell's Diggings to Mineral Point.

Fort Jackson Alarmed

D. M. Parkinson, in his reminiscences of pioneer life in Wisconsin, relates the following: "About this time, the people of Fort Defiance and .Mineral Point became very much alarmed, in consequence of Capt. James B. Estes coming, under whip and spur, at the best speed of his horse, announcing successively at Fort Defiance and Mineral Point, that he had seen a large body of Indians about seven miles below Fort Defiance, making their way toward tlie Fort, adding, at Mineral Point, that he had no doubt but that Fort Defiance at that moment was in possession of the Indians. Immediately upon Capt. Estes announcing this intelligence, Capt. Hoard, who commanded at Fort Defiance, ordered me, with three others - Lieut. M. G. Fitch, John Ray and Reasin Hall - to make a reconnoissance, and ascertain the facts. We did so ; but could find no Indians, nor discover signs of any in this vicinitv." These false alarms were not uncommon in those critical times. Many men seemed to possess eyes of a powerfully ni;ignifviug character, that tortured everything seen into an Indian ; thus many a well-run race has been made when there were no Indians, probably within miles, and nothing to justify the flight more than a tree, stump, or clump of weeds. But, notwithstanding there were a few of these flighty gentlemen, the most of the men then in the country were bold and resolute in character, and could readily distinguish between trees or bushes and Indians, as their conduct upon all occasions well testified. During this miniature " Reign of Terror," E. Brigham, of the Mounds, faithfully recorded passing events in a daily diary. A few extracts pertaining to the locality, will not prove uninteresting.

Blue Mound Fort, Juiie 2, 1832. - Extract of a letter sent to Gen. Dodge : Waknnka says there are two young prisoners with the Sauks. By the authority vested in E. Bouchard, two Indians, White 0.x and another, were sent on express to the Four Lake Indians."'

June 5, 1832. - White Ox, brother and Wakanka returned. The two first named had been to Lake Koshkonong, and informed me that the Winnebagoes had bought the two girls at Koshkonong and then left their captors. The Sauks then followed them and surrounded them. Our army was at Koslikonong Lake, not far behind, and they were afraid tiiey would be kille(l by the Sauks. The Sauks were in two columns, marchinj; direct for this country, 4U0 in number.

June 5, 1832. - Gen. Dodge promised us at this time to communicate with us every four days by express, any and every particular relating to the state of the country in general ; to assist us with a mounted force ; promised us arms, ammunition and provisions wthoul delay.

June 21. - Emerson Green and George Force both killed and scalped. Force horribly mangled, his head cut off, a gold watch taken, a sum of money and two horses.

The General ( Dodge) has not performed agreeable to promise ; seems to neglect us ; appears to bear malice against us for no cause; our situation is a delicate one. I expect an attack from the Indians; we cannot stand a siege. (My near relatives live in Angelica, A'legany Co., N. Y. To be given to Bradley Sherman or J. W. Sherman.)

For a month after the murder of Force and Green, nothing worthy of especial mention occurred at the Mound Fort. The arrival of a contingent from Gen. Posey's brigade, disarmed all further fears on the score of safety.

The murder of Spafford and others in the early part of tiie outbreak, occurred about six miles southeast of Fort Hamilton, now Wiota, on the bank of a small stream which, in commemoration of the foul deed, was named Spafl!'ord's Creek.

On June 14, 1832, Messrs. Spafford Spencer, Bennett Million, Mcllvaineand Searls, an Englishman answering to the ])atronymic of John Bull, were surprised by tiie Indians while working in a corn-field owne<l by Spafford and Spencer. Seizing his rifle, Spafford, the brave pioneer, faced the foe, to whose overpowering numbers he fell a victim. The others fled undershelter of a ravine to the river. On reaching shore, Mcllvaine and the Englishman attempted to swim the river, and both were shot in the water. -Nliliion and Spencer, on reaching the shore, hugged the bank for 300 yanls, before they were perceived by tlie Indians. The war-whoop pealed forth from a score of lusty lungs, and the pursuit commenced. Spencer continued down the river bank, being followed by two Indians, one of whom was mounted on one of SpafTord's plowhorses, and who, by reason of his mount, was far in advance of the other. Spencer still retained the gun he had snatched up at the first alarm, so, awaiting his opportunity, he shot the approaching horseman, and eluded further pursuit by secreting himself in a dense thicket. At the sound of the war-whoop, Million plunged into the stream, which was about fifty yards wide at this point, and never appeared at the surface until he struck the opposite shore, where at a single bound he scaled the bluff and disappeared from view, amid a shower of bullets. On the day of the Pecatonica battle, Spencer emerged from concealment, and bent his footsteps toward the fort. At a distance he saw it surrounded by friendly Sioux and Menomonee Indians, who were executing a over the spoils collected from the day's battle. Unacquainted with this fact, and supposing them to be re-enforcements, and that the Sauks had captured the fort and butchered the inmates, he fled in dismay, and toward evening concealed himself under a hog pen, where he was found ten days afterward. Within a year, he became deranged and wandered off no one knows whither.

Battle Of The Pecatonica

On June 11, 1832, Col. Dodge and his command visited Gen. Atkinson's headquarters in Illinois. A general plan of the campaign was matured, and Col. Dodge returned to Gratiot's Grove, where his whole command were dismissed to their posts. The news of the Spafford occurrence, was received by express at Fort Union on the evening of the same day. Instructing Capt. Gentry to muster all his men and march to Fort Hamilton, Col. Dodge, accompanied by Maj. Thomas Jenkins and John Messersmith, Jr., proceede<l by way of Blue Mounds to that post, camping the ensuing night at Fretwell's Diggings. The next morning, when they were within a half a mile of Fort Hamilton, they were met by a German, on horseback, named Apple, wha announced his intention of connecting his fortune with Capt. Gentry's company. He then moved off toward his cabin, to procure his blanket and outfit. A few minutes after, the sharp rattle of musketry was heard, and the German's horse soon appeared, galloping riderless and bloody, toward the fort. Re-enforcements having arrived from Fort Defiance, with Gentry's company, the garrison was augmented to a respectable number. Col. Dodge was received with loud cheers by the men who demanded to be led forth against the enemy. Animated by an instinctive impulse, they all mounted and sallied forth in quest of revenge. The scalpless body of Apple was found in a hazel thicket skirting the road, where the Indians lay in ambush. The short and sanguinary engagement known as the Battle of the Pecatonica, is best recited in the official report, made by Col. Dodge to Gen. Atkinson, dated June IS, 1832:

" They (the Indians) retreated through a thicket of undergrowth, almost impassable for horsemen, and scattered, to prevent our trailing them. Finding we had an open prairie around the thicket, I disjiatched part of my men to look for the trail of the Indians, in the open ground, while I formed as large a front as possible, to strike the trail, which we soon found in the open ground. After running our horses about two miles, we saw them about a half a mile ahead, trotting along at their ease. They were making for the low ground, where it would be difficult for us to pursue them on horseback. Two of the small streams we had to cross had such steep banks as to oblige us to dismount and jump our horses down them, and force our way over the best way we could. This delay again gave the Indians the start, but, the men being eager in the pursuit, I gained on them rapidly. They were directing their course to a bend of the Pecatonica, covered with a deep swamp, which they reached before I could cross that stream, owing to the steepness of the banks and the depth of the water. After crossing the Pecatonica to the open ground, I dismounted my command, linked my horses and left four men in charge of them, and sent four men in different directions, to watch the movements of the Indians, if they should attempt to swim the Pecatonica. They were placed on high points, that would give them a complete view of the etieray, should they attempt to retreat. I formed my men on foot, at open order, and at trailed arms we proceeded through the swamp to some timber and undergrowth.

where I expected to find the enemy. When I found the trail, I knew they were close at hand. They had got close to the edge of the lake, where the bank was about six feet high, which was a complete breastwork for them. They commenced to fire, when three of my men fell, two dangerously wounded, one severely, but not dangerously. I instantly ordered a charge on them, made by eighteen men, which was promptly obeyed. The Indians being under the bank, our guns were brought within ten or fifteen feet of them, before we could fire on them. Their party consisted of thirteen men ; eleven men were killed on the spot, and the remaining two were killed in crossing the lake, so they were left without one, to carry the news to their friends.* The volunteers under my command behaved with great gallantry; it would be impossible for me to discriminate among them. At the word "charge ! ' the men rushed forward, and literally shot the Indians to pieces. We were Indians and whites, on a piece of ground not to exceed sixty feet square."

Those who participated in the battle are as follows: Gen. Dodge, Thomas Jenkins. John Messersraith, Jr., Daniel M. Parkinson, Peter Parkinson, Jr., Matthew G. Fitch, Dominick McGraw, Samuel Black, Thomas H. Price, Benjamin Lawhead, Samuel Bunts, Levin Leach, Mc- Connell, Charles Bracken. Pascal Bequette, Dr. Allen Hill, Alexander Higginbotham, K. H. Kirkpatrick, Asa Duncan, William Cams, John Hood, Samuel Patrick, W. W. Woodbridge and Messrs. Porter, Davies, Van Wagner, Morris, Wells and Rankin.

Battles Of Wisconsin Heights And Bad Axe

About the first of July, 18.S2, the army commanded by Gen. Atkinson, operating against Black Hawk and his warriors, moved up the valley of the Rock River. The right wing composed of the United States regular soldiers, and Henry's brigade of Illinois volunteers, commanded by Gen. Atkinson in per.son, marched on the east side of the river. Gen. Alexander's brigade formed the center; the left wing, consisting of Posey's brigade and the miners under Gen. Henry Dodge, rendezvoused at Wiota, and marched from that place about the same time for Koshkonnng Lake. Gen. Dodge's command consisted of five companies of mounted men, commanded by Capts. Clark, Gentry, Dixon, Parkison and Jones, and about twenty Menomonee Indians and eight or ten white men, under command of Col. W. S. Hamilton. Near Sugar River, he was joined by Capt. Stephenson's company of about eighty men from Galena, wliicii augmented his force to about three hundred men. Dissatisfied with Gen. Posey's command, the volunteers on arriving at Koshkonong, ]irocurcd an exchange with Alexander's brigade. The next ilay the forces moved up Rock River, and, on the second day, joined Gen. Atkinson at what was know a.s the burnt village on Bark River. To replenish their commissary supplies. Dodge's command with Henry's and Alexander's brigades, were ordered to Fort Winnebago, about fifty miles distant, where were ample stores. Gen. Dodge very imprudently proceeded toward the fort in advance of the supporting brigade, and throngh the heart of a country infested with a savage foe, estimated to number from eight hundred to twelve liundred braves. Fortunately the journey was accomplished in safety, and the welcome portals of Winnebago reached on the evening of the second day. Tiirougli tiie medium of Pierre Pauquette, a half-breed, and several Winnebago Indians, who happened to be at the fort, it was learned that Black Hawk had pitched his camp in the vicinity of Ilustis' Rapids on the Rock River. This information induced Dodge and Henry to forego a direct return to camp, according to Gen. Atkinson's orders; they considering it wiser to deviate from a direct path; for by striking Rock River above the enemy, they could place them between Atkinson's brigade and their united forces, and by this strategical move, the possibility of flight would be precluded, and the Indians forced to an encounter.

*Col. Dodge ap[H.Are to baTe inirtCAlciiIateil the strenjcth of the ont^mr. a..* Bul-4e<]uent res-arch showa bnyond a JouM t)iat the war party nambered aeventeen Id the mom.>lrs of Ktlwartl Be nirhanl. we flnd'llio folhiwlug: "After the Iwittle.'eleven Indiana w.-rf r»iind <lead on the ground, two more, who were wound*.*!, pot np the river bank, and were tnicke<l and finally !«calped by the Wlnnebagoea. C'l. Hamilton, Bonio lime after, found the Ijo-ly of another, alter the prairie fire had jiJUiHed over him; and later in thi' -ucceedint; winter, a Frencii trapper, found in a swamp, lliree more, l>eneatti luuihwood. under which they hadcrawleii when wounde<i. The wliole nuriilier thUK accounted for. of the Sjiuks wlio fell in tliis fijilit. was seventtH-n. At a sut>se,)uent period, wiien at R >ck Island, after the termination of the war. Beoucltard Understood from eome of the Sauks. that Black Hawk ha*! often apoken of a band of seventeen of his hraTes, of whom he had never received Hny intelligence, and he knew not what liad become of tliem.