That is very interesting Hermin. I thought I'd try republishing what I found to be some of the most interesting parts. Here goes.
NOTABLE FRENCH & INDIAN PERSONALITIES
In the preceding pages reference has been made to most, perhaps to all, of the subjects of these sketches who have been prominent actors in some department, and further notice may seem like repetition; but as the object in view is to pay tribute where it is due, I trust the reader will pardon the iteration. Messrs. Rocque and Buisson were of French descent, and their children and descendants still remain in Wabasha. Augustin Rocque built the first house in this vicinity in 1830, and Duncan Campbell was the next to build, and on the same side of the slough. Oliver Cratte was sent here in 1838, and he built the first house on the present site of the city. Mr. Rocque died in 1856, and, at his own request, lies buried upon the top, and just on the verge of the highest bluff overlooking the town, with no stone or epitaph to mark his resting-place, other than the silent grandeur of the scene. His son, Joseph Rocque, was accounted the greatest hunter of his time, and was so fleet on foot, that one time upon a wager he ran down a deer and drove it into camp. At another time he carried dispatches on foot from Fort Snelling to this place, a distance of ninety miles, from sun to sun. The governor fearing he would not be able to make the trip, sent a man on horseback after him; but Rocque left man and horse on the prairie, and distanced both. He was perfectly familiar with the county, having traversed it many times in company with Indians and voyageurs, and understood the shortest route, which he took, and so executed his mission in due time. Another son, Baptiste, acted as scout for Gen. Sibley during the Indian outbreak of 1862. Mendota at that time was called St. Peters. Nearly all the old French traders married Sioux wives, and the government set apart four hundred and fifty square miles for the benefit of the so called half-breed children. In 1857 these half-breeds received four hundred and eighty acres of land scrip from the government in place of their reserved land, and several old French settlers at Wabasha received scrip for their wives and children. Duncan and Scott Campbell received about twenty-three scrips; Mr. Cratte had nine; Mr. Alexis Baily, seven. The Campbells were men of Scotch parentage, and both were well known at all the different posts and among various tribes. Duncan Campbell was killed in a duel near Mackinac, with one Crawford, a brother of the agent of the Northwest Fur Company. Campbell was an independent trader in opposition to the Northwest Company. Nelson's Landing was a trading post on the Wisconsin side of the river. At one time, a war party of Chippewas, numbering about one hundred and fifty, came down to the Mississippi, and stopped at the Landing. This was in 1853. They threatened the village, and just as they made their appearance on the river bank a Sioux Indian was seen coming down the river in his canoe. On seeing his enemies so close to him, he threw himself over in the water, and holding his canoe with the left hand swam ashore, the canoe serving him as a shelter from the bullets of his enemies, although completely riddled by them. But "Oregon" (so he was called by the whites), managed his bark so as to reach the Minnesota side without being wounded, and as soon as upon land he gave the war-whoop common to his tribe, which was soon answered by scores of his friends, and the Chippewas were glad to retreat without even a scalp. A short time before, a treaty of peace had been perfected between the Chippewas and Wapashaws band, which was ratified by all the principal men of the band, and everything seemed quiet. But the Redwing band wither did not know of the treaty or ignored it wholly, and made raid upon the Chippewas, which renewed hostilities at once.
When the writer of these annals first came to Wabasha, in the spring of 1857, the teepee of the Indian was to be seen in every direction, and the dusky form of the savage might be expected to walk in upon you, or be seen peering curiously at you through the window at any time. Usually they wanted food or "coshpop" (the Indian term for ten cents), begging being one of their strong characteristics. Just below the house in which we lived stood a little copse of wood, where the death-song of the "poor Indian" was heard many times when he thought himself dying; the "fire-water" of the white man proving too much for him. He would get thus far on his way back to the teepee, lie down, as he thought, to die, and then the terrible wail would begin and continue until the poor fellow was overcome and dead-drunken sleep drowned all sensibilities. Their dances, too, were very frequent and dreadfully hideous, yet apparently enjoyed with all the zest their benighted brains and energies could desire. Their medicine and war-dances were the most frequent; they had also a snake-dance, which took in all the serpentine antics and hisses, while the monotonous beatings of their drums was most unearthly.
Sitting at our dinner table one day, we were startled by the door being opened suddenly and five dusky faces, one above the other, peering in at us, the last one with face painted black and red, with mischief-gleaming eyes and two feathers in his hair. Our eldest son, who, in a short time, had caught much of the Sioux language, upon seeing the last face, jumped up and accosted him with, "Now, thingy, what does all this mean?" "Indian hungry," was the reply. "But why are you here with that face?" "thingy dandy," he replied, and it appeared that he had painted and dressed himself in those habiliments for our especial benefit. The Indian was known ever after as "Dandy thingy." In the raid upon the whites, in 1862, Dandy thingy came to grief as one of the marauders, although protesting his innocence and pleading hard for life. He was finally removed, with many others, to the Santee agency, Nebraska. Among those banished to that reservation at that time was the old and faithful Sioux, Ta-mah-haw, who had been a friend to the United States all his life. He was familiarly known as "the one-eyed Sioux," and Lieut. Pike speaks of him as "my friend" in his journal, and also says he was a war chief, and that he gave him his "father's tomahawk." In the table of the appendix of this journal he is set down as belonging to the Medaywokant'wans; he was also the "the Bourgne" (French for one eye), but his Dahkota name was Ta-mah-haw, his French name was "L'Orignal Leve," and his English, "The Rising Moose." He was born as Prairie Aux Ailes (Winona), and in his younger days was noted for his intelligence, daring and activity. During a game in boyhood one eye was accidentally destroyed, giving him the peculiarity by which he was always known. In person, he was tall and of fine appearance, muscular and active even to the day of his death. During the war of 1812 he rendered most valuable service to the American cause. Gen. Clark, of St. Louis, employed him as scout and messenger, and, with one exception, he was the only Sioux who remained friendly to us during that contest. This other was Hay-pie-dam, who belonged to the band of Wakuta. Col. thingyson, the British leader, once had him arrested at Prairie du Chien and threatened him with death, but Ta-mah-haw bravely and firmly refused to betray his cause. Gen. Clark esteemed his services highly, and on May 6, 1814 (sixty-nine years today) gave him a commission as chief of the Sioux nation, together with a captain's uniform and medal. He carefully kept and treasured this commission and shows it with genuine pride to every new comer. Most of the early settlers are familiar with his characteristics, always wearing a high-crowned hat, and often appearing in an officer's blue swallow-tailed coat and epaulets, given him by Gov. Clark. He was remarkable among the Sioux, and it was his highest pride and boast that he was the only American in his tribe. He deserved, on this account, to receive from the government authorities special consideration; yet he was suffered to go away in banishment from his old friends the white men, which grieved him so much that he died in a few months. In the Dahkota tongue Ta-mah-haw means "pike." He was given that name by his band, undoubtedly on account of friendship for and intimacy with Lieut. Pike.
It may be thought that too much pains [sic] has been taken to elucidate the history of this man, but he was more than an ordinary Indian, and his personal friendship for Lieut. Pike, of whom he delighted to talk, and his devotion to the American cause, justly attaches to his history more than ordinary notice.
Old Wapashaw, the grandfather of the present chief who bears his name, was the man of his time, and tradition has preserved the name of no braver, greater man than he. He was the leading hereditary chief of the People of the Lakes, and in all tribal affairs his words was law, not only with his own particular band, but with all those belonging to the same division. At one time he went to Quebec to settle some trouble in relation to a murder which had been committed, and there he represented the Dahkotahs as living in seven bands, with as many chiefs, of whom he was one. He there received for them seven medals, one being hung around his own neck, and the remainder to be given one to each chief of the other bands. Wapashaw died far away from his home on the Hoka river, and, it is said, the father of Wakuta was the physician who attended him in his last illness. The Dakotahs will never forget the name of Wapashaw, and their affections cluster around and cling to this place from very reverence to his memory.
I copy from the "Wabasha Herald" the particulars of an interview with Wakuta, the last Sioux chief who dwelt on the Mississippi, and who is said to have possessed on of the medals given Wapashaw at the time of his visit to Quebec: "A few days since we had the pleasure of looking at a few old relics in the shape of parchments, commissions, treaties, etc., which privilege was granted us by an old Indian chief, Wakuta by name, at present located at the Santee reservation in Nebraska with his tribe, and who is paying his old friends and acquaintances here a visit. The first document shown us was a commission to Tatangamanie, or "walking Buffalo," appointing him as grand chief of the Gens de Lac Nation (Men of the Lakes), and signed by James Wilkinson, commander-in-chief of the army of the United States and governor of the territory of Louisiana and superintendent of the Indian affairs, indorsed as follows: "Given under my hand and seal of arms, at St. Louis, this 27th day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six, and of the independence of the United States of America the twentieth." Signed by "his excellency's command, James Wilkinson." Also another, bearing date August 26, 1812, appointing Walking Buffalo as first chief of the Mendewacouton band, which constituted all the Sioux on the Mississippi river; also another, appointing Walking Buffalo chief of the Tribes of the Lakes, signed by Wm. Clark, governor of Missouri, bearing date July 29, 1815. He had another documnet, a treaty of peace, signed at St. Louis in 1815 by the following chiefs and commissioners: Wm. Clark, Marian Edwards and Aug. Choteau, commissioners, and Tatangamanie, the "Walking Buffalo;" Hai-saw-nee, "The Horn;" A-am-pa-ha, "The Speaker;" Na-ru-sa-ga-to, "The Hard Stone;" Hai-ba-had, "The Rounding Horn," chiefs.
These papers are in a good state of preservation, and the one bearing date of 1806, is written in both English and French, while the others are all in English. From these papers it appears that Walking Buffalo was grand chief of the Gens du Lac Nation (People of the Lake), and also chief of the Men-da-wa-con-ton band, which included all the Sioux of the Mississippi river. The documents were handed down by Walking Buffalo to his brother, Wakuta, the "Red Wing," who in turn gave them into the possession of his son, the present chief, who is seventy years old at this time. The domain of the Tribe of the Lake Band extended from Read's Landing to Red Wing, and the domain of Wapasha extended from the same point to the mouth of the Black river.
Although Wakuta spoke in the Sioux language, we were able to glean a good many interesting facts from him through his nephew, Jos. Carron, and only regret that our education in that language was neglected in our early days, depriving us of a further research.
Although seventy years old, Wakuta does not appear to be over forty. On showing him a specimen of a stone axe claimed by many to be of the stone age, he said that the Indians used it for almost everything in their everyday life. On handing him a piece of pottery that was supposed to be the handiwork of the mound builders, he immediately recognized it as a part of an Indian cooking utensil. This was handed him for the purpose of finding out whether he knew anything of such a race, and upon being questioned, said many years ago, which he counted by the five or six hundred, there was a nation of people (he called them Indians) that lived in what is now known as Indians mounds, and instead of burial-places they were their habitations. This race, he says, disappeared when his people came, and thinks they were either killed or driven off. He also said that when the present Indians came to this land, there were a couple of houses standing near the present town of Stockholm, Wisconsin, on Lake Pepin, which he thinks must have been built by the French voyageurs. The old chief has been over nearly the whole of the United States, and immediately recognized a bird's-eye view of the city of New York, and laid another as a scene on the Hudson. From our limited "talk" we judge that he was "well read," as they say in the United States, and was well informed of the events of his time, and had stowed away many traditions of the nation and country he represented, of which the modern historical researcher would gladly avail himself.
An incident on Lake Pepin is also given in the shape of a fish story ~ an old Indian story told and handed down from time to time ~ that a catfish was caught in the lake that measured the length of seven bows between the eyes. An Indian bow being, say, about three feet in length, would make the fish some twenty-one feet between the eyes, which makes a pretty large fish story, and should be placed side by side with the sea-serpent stories of the east. As fishy as it may seem, they tell it as a fact, and all give the same version. At the date of this writing Wakuta is dead, having died at the Santee agency. Their old camping-ground at this place was very dear to them, and they would return at times to visit their friends and relatives among the half-breeds who still remain here, and upon what is called the "Grand Encampment," five miles below on the river. It was given that name by the old French voyageurs who made it a point to camp there on their way up and down the river. Teepeeotah, as remarked in a former chapter, is situated on this encampment.
In the preceding chapters it has been shown that Wabasha justly lays claim to being the oldest town on the Mississippi from Prairie du Chien to Fort Snelling and Mendota, and that its position has ever been an important one. Situated, as it is, just below the mouth of the Chippewa river, it has been the rendezvous for all the lumber rafted down that river, and from this place to the great markets below, ever since the manufacture of lumber began from the pineries above. The lumber, after coming out of the Chippewa, is re-rafted at this point and sent down the river, and now much of it goes farther west by means of the railroad communication with other points. The Midland road intersects the Northwestern at Zumbrota, and the prospect is that the road will be continued to Austin, and thus direct transportation be opened from the great lumber manufactories themselves to Omaha and other points west. A goodly number of smart, enterprising villages have sprung up along the line of the Midland, the first being Glasgow, then McCrackens, at which point there is a never-failing spring of pure water, Theilmanton, Tracey, Keegan, Millville, Jarrett, Hammond, Funk, Zumbro Falls, Mazeppa, Forest Mills, Zumbrota. All these stations are of considerable importance as shipping points, and several possess extensive grain elevators; and all these are tributary to Wabasha. With these and many other advantages the city of Wabasha undoubtedly has a grand future before it.
Stillwater claims to have been the first settled town in the state, which is a mistake. That city was first settled in 1843, and Wabasha dates back to 1838 and 1841, being christened "Wabashaw" in 1843. For beauty of location Wabasha is unexcelled, and the sunset from the place is most enchanting. Just at the outlet of Lake Pepin the river makes a bend, which from this point seems to bring the bluffs of Wisconsin and Minnesota very close together, leaving just space enough to see the sun in all its glory as it sinks to rest in the placid waters of the lake, and its last rays light up the bluffs on either side with a golden radiance that fills the heart with rapture at the beautiful scene. It is in the month of June especially charming, and would quite repay a little journey to the place by any lover of beautiful scenery, just to have one look at this enchanting sunset.
More than a century ago traveling fur traders would ascend the Mississippi for the purpose of trading with the Indians and obtaining valuable furs, of which they usually had an abundance, their headquarters being at Prairie du Chien. Mention has been made of some of these traders, and it seems fitting that this work should give some notice of some of the most prominent of these, particularly those who at times have either lived here or transacted business with others who did. A sketch has been given of Mr. J. B. Faribault, and it seems most fitting to introduce just here a sketch of his son-in-law, Mr. Alexis Bailly, as he figured largely in the early history of the place. Most of the pioneers of Minnesota, as a class, have been men superior in morality, intelligence and education to those of the pioneers of the earlier territories, and they have left their impress upon town and state. Many of them were attracted to this wild region from the love of adventure, or of the chase, there being just enough danger always to give zest to frontier life, more than mere love of gain; yet they were by no means free from the frailties and vices of poor human nature, and were not especially given to respect law, especially when it favored the speculator at the expense of the settler.
Mr. Bailly was born at St. Josephs, near the shore of Lake Michigan, but received his education at Montreal. When about nineteen he came to Mackinaw as clerk for the American Fur company, and remained there some two years. In 1826 he was employed by the company to drive some cattle to the Red River of the North, and he, with eight others, made the trip on foot, leaving Mackinaw the middle of May, reaching their destination late in October. Upon their return they lost their way, going between two and three hundred miles to the west, striking the shed waters of the St. Peters river (now Minnesota) instead of those of the Sauk, as they had intended. They endured almost untold hardships, going several days without any food, except a few kernels of dry corn, but finally succeeded in reaching Prairie du Chien without loss of life. Mr. Bailly was a man of fine business habits, and was an intelligent and very genial companion. He was married twice, his first wife being the daughter of J. B. Faribault, who died in Wabasha. Several years after, he married, at St. Paul, a Miss Julia Corey, of Cooperstown, New York, who is still living here.
At the time Mr. Bailly engaged with the fur company the wages of a good clerk was (sic) two hundred dollars per annum; that of an interpreter, one hundred and fifty dollars, and common laborers or voyageurs, as they were called, was (sic) one hundred dollars, with rations, which rations were of the simplest kind. The articles principally used in the trade with the Indians were blankets, calicoes, cloths, tobacco and cheap jewelry, including wampum, which served in lieu of money as a basis of exchange. During the winters the traders and their men ensconced themselves in their warm log-cabins, but in the spring it was required of them to visit the various Indian camps and secure the furs and peltries collected by the savages in their hunts. Goods were always paid for on delivery, and never given on credit.
Mr. Bailly commenced trading on his own account at Prairie du Chien in 1828, but removed to St. Peters (now Mendota) in 1835, and subsequently opened a store in St. Paul. Not meeting with the success he desired he removed to Wabasha, where he remained until his death in June, 1861. Mr. Bailly figured largely in the interests of the county, and did much to settle the difficulties in relation to the half-breed tract, and his eldest son, Alexis P. Bailly was the first register of deeds of the county. His second son, Capt. H. Bailly, was killed in the rebellion, at the battle of Lookout Mountain.
Mr. Bailly was the first civil officer in the county, being appointed justice of the peace, after the town of Wabasha was organized, by the governor.
He was at one time associated with N. W. Kittson in business, they holding trading-posts in different localities. Mr. Wm. H. Forbes, a brother-in-law of Mr. Bailly's, came to Minnesota as Indian trader in 1837. Mr. Bailly's trade was principally among the Sioux. Mr. Bailly, upon coming to Wabasha, bought out Labathe, of whom a rich anecdote is related by Hon. H. H. Sibley. Indian etiquette demands on all occasions that the visitor shall leave nothing unconsumed of the meat or drink placed before him. There was a tea-party given at one time at Fort Snelling by Capt. Gooding, of the army, and Joseph Laframboise, Alex. Faribault and Labathe were invited. It was in July, and the weather very warm. It appears that Laframboise spoke with fluency several different languages, and both he and Faribault were practical jokers. In due time the party were seated around the table, and the cups and saucers of those days were of the generous proportions ignored in these days. The large cup filled with tea was handed to Labathe and soon disposed of. At that time the poor fellow could speak nothing more of English than the imperfect sentence "tank you." When his cup was emptied, Mrs. Gooding, who was at the head of the sable, said, "Mr. Labathe, please take some more tea." Labathe replied, "tank you, madam," which the waiter understood to mean assent. He took the cup and handed it to the hostess, which was forthwith supplied with the tea. Labathe managed to swallow that, sweltering meanwhile with the fervent heat of the evening, and was again requested to permit his cup to be replenished. "Tank you, madam," was the only reply the poor victim could make. Seven great cups full of the hot tea had been swallowed, Laframboise and Faribault in the meantime almost dying with laughter. For the eighth time the waiter approached for the cup, when the aboriginal politeness which had enabled him to bear up amid his sufferings gave way entirely, and rising from his seat, to the amazement of the company, he exclaimed frantically, "Laframboise, pour l'amour de bon Dieu, pourquoi ne dites vous pas a madame qui je ne vout point davantage?" ~ "Laframboise, for the love of God, why do you not tell madam that I do not wish any more tea?" Gen. Sibley says Labathe never heard the last of that while he lived.
Mr. Roque, too, mentioned in preceding pages, affords another instance of the inconvenience of not being able to speak English. He only knew one compound word, and that was roast-beef, which he called "Ros-bif." At the time of his accompanying the delegation to Washington City, on being asked at the public-houses what he would be helped to, he could only say ros-bif! So, the old gentleman, although longing for a chance at the many good things he would have preferred, performed the round trip on ros-bif.
We find Mr. Bailly figuring largely in matters concerning the Sioux, to whom he was a good friend, and he is frequently mentioned in connection with the treaties made and also as justice of the peace. He married several couples while acting as justice of the peace of this county, and in 1852 acted as assistant commissary at the treaty with the Dahcotahs at Traverse des Sioux.
It became necessary that the territory bordering on the Red River of the North should pass into the hands of the United States government and become subject to the civil jurisdiction of the territory. President Fillmore departed from the usual mode of appointing commissioners for negotiation, and deputed the commissioner of Indian affairs, the Hon. Luke Lea, and His Excellency Gov. Ramsey to meet the representatives of the Dahcotahs and conclude a treaty with them for such lands as they might be willing to sell. A large number of half-breeds and others, citizens of the United States, who were originally a part of the Selkirk settlements, demanded protection of the government against the encroachments of the Hudson Bay company and the privileges of American citizens. On the 27th of June, 1852, Commissioner Lea arrived at St. Paul, and, in company with Gov. Ramsey, proceeded to Traverse des Sioux, arriving there June 30. This treaty was considered of great importance, the conditions being the ceding and relinquishment of all their lands in the territory and State of Iowa by the Wah-pay-kootah and Med-a-wa-kan-toans bands of Indians, the United States reserving for them a home the average width of ten miles on either side of the Minnesota river and bounded on the east by Little Rock river, on the west by the Yellow Medicine, paying them certain moneys and annuities to continue for fifty years. Another treaty, the same year, was perfected with the Tillager band of Chippewas, by which they ceded a country sixty-five miles in width by one hundred and fifty in length, intersected in its center by the Red River of the North, for this land the government agreeing to pay them annually the sum of ten thousand dollars for twenty years and thirty thousand dollars cash down. Mr. Bailly was spoken of at these treaties as "one of the most useful and active camp men that ever was."
At the Traverse des Sioux camp Mr. Bailly married, in the Episcopal form, David Faribault and Nancy Winona McClure, after which the groom gave a dinner, and all went to dine together. After the repast, toasts and speeches appropriate to the occasion flowed freely. One of the toasts was given by Joseph La Framboise, who was one of the oldest and most intelligent pioneers of the valley of the St. Peters. Hon. Wm. H. Forbes, who was also present at this treaty, gave as a sentiment, "Gov. Ramsey, ex-officio superintendent of Indian affairs, a public officer who has, as he deserves to have, the entire confidence of the Indians under his charge." Gov. Ramsey gave "Millard Fillmore, a national president ~ a man worthy of his high trust." After dinner there was a virgin feast of young Dahcotah girls, nineteen in number, and fifteen young men. Before sitting down to the feast, consisting of tea and fried cakes, each of the party advanced and touched a red stone which was placed in their midst, this being the test oath of truthfulness and virtue. Mr. Wm. H. Forbes was present at this treaty; also Mr. Kittson, J. R. Brown and Hon. H. H. Sibley.
Minnesota is the "land of the Dahkotahs." Long before their existence was known to civilized men they wandered through the forests between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, in quest of the bounding deer, and over the wide prairies beyond, in search of the ponderous buffalo. They are an entirely different group from those found by the early settlers of the Atlantic States, on the Connecticut, Mohawk and Susquehanna rivers, and their language is much more difficult to comprehend; yet they have many customs common with the tribes who once dwelt in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, while other peculiarities mark them as belonging to a distinct family of the aborigines of North America.
Winona, Wapashaw, Mendota, Anoka, Kasota, Mahkato, and other names designating the towns, streams and lakes of Minnesota, are words derived from their vocabulary. When they were first noticed by the European adventurer they occupied the country between the Mississippi and the headwaters of Lake Superior, which is a country of many lakes, and the voyageur gave them the name of "People of the Lakes." The word Dahkota, by which they love to be designated, signifies joined together in friendly compact, equivalent to the motto on the seal of the United States. In a history written by a catholic missionary nearly two centuries ago, it is remarked of the Dakotahs: "For sixty leagues from the extremity of the upper lakes, toward sunset, in the center of the western nations, they have all united their force by a general league."
This refers only to the Sioux tribes, which name originated among the early voyageurs. The Ojibways were a people whose ancestors had lived on Lake Michigan, but had been driven westward by the Iroquois. For centuries they had waged war upon the Dahkotahs, and the two nations were deadly foes. Many nations call the Dahkotahs Nadonessioux, the last two syllables being the Ojibway word for foe, but Charlevoix, who visited Wisconsin in 1721, says the name "Sioux" was entirely original with the voyageur.
From an early period there had been three divisions of this great people, which again had been subdivided into smaller bands. That division known as the M'dewakontons, or People of the Lakes, consisted of seven distinct bands, whose summer residence was in villages. These villages were situated at Wapashaw prairie, now the site of Winona, Red Leaf or Wapashaw, Red Wing, Kaponia on the Mississippi, and another at Lake Calhoun, another at the Little Rapids on the banks of the Minnesota, near the present village of Belleplaine. Old Wabashaw, long since dead, was the leading hereditary chief of the People of the Lakes, and in all intertribal affairs of importance his word was law, not only with his own particular band, but with all those belonging to the same division.
The authority of the chiefs was very great; but from the date of the first treaties negotiated with the government it began to decline, until finally the chief was considered the mere mouthpiece of the soldiers' lodge, the members of which constituted the only real power in the bands. Though the treaty of 1763 between France and England ceded all the territory within the limits of Wisconsin and Minnesota to England, yet for a long time the English did not obtain a foothold. The French traders, having purchased wives from the tribes according to their customs, managed to preserve a feeling of friendship toward their king long after the trading-posts at Green Bay and Sault St. Marie had been discontinued. This was the cause of so many French half- breeds, especially at Prairie du Chien, whose children and their descendants coming up the Mississippi settled in and around Wabashaw. Prairie du Chien was the great mart where all the tribes on both sides of the river annually assembled to dispose of their furs to the traders, who also had their Indian wives; and Carver speaks of their village, upon his arrival there, as being one of about three hundred families.
About the year 1785 Prairie du Chien made its transition from an encampment for Indians and their traders to a hamlet, and among its first settlers were Messrs. Giard and Dubuque. In 1780 the wife of a Fox warrior discovered a large vein of lead in Iowa, on the west bank of the Mississippi, and at a council held in Prairie du Chien in 1788, Julien Dubuque obtained permission to work the mines on and near the city which now bears his name, and on the bluff stands the little stone house that covers his remains.
After the treaty of 1783 between Great Britain and the United States, the British did not immediately surrender their posts, which led to much ill-feeling; and when Washington sent Baron Steuben, in 1784, to Detroit to take possession of that fort, the British commander refused to give possession, upon the ground that it was upon Indian territory. But in the treaty effected by Mr. Jay, Great Britain agreed to withdraw her troops from all places within the boundary lines of the treaty, and after France ceded Louisiana to the United States, in 1800, this part of Minnesota began to be settled by white people and French half-breeds, ~ Augustine Rocque, as before stated, being the first white settler at Wapashaw. In 1805, Lieut. Pike held a conference with the Sioux Indians, when they agreed to grant to the United States full power and sovereignty over these lands forever.
For more than a century there had been a westward tendency in the emigration of the Indian nations, and a frequent source of war was the encroachment upon each other's hunting- grounds, and in 1825 a congress of tribes was convened at Prairie du Chien to establish the boundary lines between the Chippewas and Sioux. This did not prove effectual, and in 1830 another congress was convened at Prairie du Chien, at which time the M'dewakantonwan band made a treaty, bestowing upon their relatives, the mixed bloods, this tract of land about Lake Pepin, since known as "the half-breed tract." This tract in said treaty is described as follows: "Beginning at a place called the Barn, below and near the village of the Red Wing chief, and running back fifteen miles, thence in a parallel line with Lake Pepin and the Mississippi about thirty-two miles to a point opposite O'Beuf or Beef river, thence fifteen miles to the Grand Encampment, opposite the river aforesaid." This reservation begins at Red Wing, Goodhue county, and runs through the town of Red Wing in a southwesterly direction, thence through Hay Creek township, including all of it but a small part of the northwest corner, including the southeast corner of Fetherstone township, all of Belvidere township and Florence; runs angling through Goodhue to section 31, thence southeast through Zumbrota, including the northeast corner thereof, to the town of Chester in Wabasha county; it runs diagonally and includes the northeast half of the town through Hyde Park, leaving the southwest corner of it which lies north of Hammond's ford; takes in most of Oakwood, except a part of the southwest corner; then striking the northeast corner of Elgin and runs diagonally across Plainview to section 24; from there it runs northeast through the town of Whitewater, in Winona county, diagonally through Watopa, including the northwest half of the town, taking in all of Highland and the most of Greenfield, through which it runs diagonally , leaving out the southeast corner, and strikes the Mississippi near the southeast corner of section 12, at what is called the Grand Encampment. It also includes all of the townships of Wabasha, Lake, Mount Pleasant, Guilford, West Albany and Glasgow, thus including all but a small part of Wabashaw county and a portion of Goodhue.
The year 1837 forms an important era in the history of Minnesota, as the first steps were then taken for the introduction of the woodman's ax and the splash of the millwheel. Missionaries were also sent out by a society from Lausanne, Switzerland, who arrived and located at Redwing and Wabashaw villages, but after a short time they abandoned the attempt to ameliorate the condition of the Dahkotahs. The same year a deputation of Dahkotahs was sent to Washington, and all lands east of the Mississippi were ceded by them to the United states, but this reservation was held as a a sacred bequest to the half-breeds, according to the treaty at Prairie du Chien in 1830. White men began to stop at Wabashaw, and settlements began upon this tract, yet disputes as to possession frequently arose, and the Indians being numerous, the safety of the white man was very precarious. There was often a hundred lodges, sometimes more, about Wabashaw, and it is easy to conceive how the natural love of the beautiful should prompt the red men to select this as their home and hunting-ground. Canoes lined the shore, and games, feasts and dances filled in the time, while long in the night the hollow beat of their drums, and the dismal screech of male and female, could be heard in the woods, trying to drive away the Evil Spirit, or cure some Indian sick man. In 1850 the population of this county was two hundred and forty-three souls. In the census of 1880 it was sixteen thousand one hundred and forty-nine.
The half-breed tract contained four hundred and fifty square miles. In 1854 the government appointed commissioners to enroll the half-breeds in order to divide the lands equally among them, and in the spring of 1857 Gen. Shields was sent on to issue land scrip to them, in place of these reserved lands, each half-breed receiving four hundred and eighty acres. This scrip made a nice haul for the sharpers, who in most cases figured them out of it. The French settlers at Wabasha received scrip for their wives and families. Joseph Buisson had seven scrips, Alexis Bailley had seven, Rocque's family had thirteen, Mr. Cratte had nine, Monette had four, Trudell had seven; Duncan and Scott Campbell had twenty-three, Francois la Batte had ten. Most of these have not a cent left.
Few of the old settlers remain, some have gone to other parts of the country, but most of them lie sleeping their last sleep, and the hunting-ground of the red man is now turned into fields of grain and flowering gardens. A beautiful city stands on the site of the old camping-ground, which a short time ago was lighted only by the council fires of the savage.
I hope this is not too imposing, I did it partly for my own benefit, as the graphics on the web page were obscuring the type and partly in hopes that others would find it oif equal interest.
Sincerely, utzer0n113
