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Fifty Years In The Northwest

William H. C. Folsom

Lawrence, along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and along the chain of the great lakes, completely surrounded the English colonies and disputed with them the possession of the country. The French-English War of 1689 to 1697 failed to decide satisfactorily the question of the interior domain. In 1712 New France was divided into two provinces, that of Canada and that of Louisiana, the dividing line being the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the Mississippi boundary line extending from the mouth of the Ohio to the mouth of the Missouri river. Mobile was made the capital of the southern province. The patent or commission of the new province was issued to Crozat, Marquis du Chatel. The Illinois country was afterward added, and it seems probable that the country east of the Wabash was also included in it. All north of the boundary named formed part of the province of Canada. Other boundaries than these have been given by geographers, but these boundaries are sufficiently established by official documents. In 1763 all of the territory claimed by France lying east of the Mississippi river was ceded to the English, the territory lying west to Spain. Virginia, by three royal charters, given in 1606, 1607 and 1611, by the English government, held a part of the Northwest Territory, and in 1776 established three counties north of the Ohio river, named Ohio, Youghiogheny and Monongahela, but in 1787 ceded this territory to the United States. Its settlement was somewhat impeded by the perils of the wilderness, not the least of which was the doubtful and often unfriendly attitude of the Indians, resulting in many cases from the changes in the tenure of the lands, and the influence of French or English emissaries, generally hostile to American claims. The history of these early settlements is replete with thrilling adventures. The first settlement made in the newly ceded territory was at Marietta, Ohio, in 1788, under the supervision of Gen. Rufus Putnam, nephew of Gen. Israel Putnam, and first surveyor general of the Northwest Territory. The settlement was named Marietta, in honor of Queen Marie Antoinette, who had been a firm friend to the colonies during the Revolutionary struggle. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor July 15, 1788, of the newly organized Ohio Territory. The country claimed by Virginia under the royal charters included the land lying between the sea shore on the east, and the Mississippi on the west, the Ohio river on the south, and the British possessions on the north. It will be seen, therefore, that that part of the Northwest Territory lying immediately along the eastern banks of the Mississippi now comprised in the state of Wisconsin and part of Minnesota, has been successively claimed by Spain, France, England, Virginia, and the United States, and under the territorial governments of the Northwest--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin territories. That part of Minnesota lying west of the Mississippi belonged to the French by right of discovery, but passed into the hands of Spain, thence back again into the hands of France, by whom, with the territory known as Louisiana, it was sold to the United States in 1803. The original grant to Virginia included far more than the area of the State and that of the Northwest Territory, but was subsequently reduced by grants made by states lying north of Virginia, and vexatious disputes arose as to titles, a circumstance calculated to retard rapid settlement. We append the following data concerning the early history of the territory included in the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota, tabulated for more convenient reference: 1634. Jean Nicollet ventured into Wisconsin, and explored the country from Lake Michigan for a considerable distance down the Wisconsin river. 1658. Two fur traders penetrated to Lake Superior and wintered there, probably on Wisconsin soil. 1660. Rev. M. Menard with eight companions came to La Pointe, Lake Superior. 1665. Claude Allouez, an eminent pioneer missionary, succeeded Menard, and re-established the mission at La Pointe. 1669. Father Allouez established a mission on the shores of Green bay, locating it at Depere in 1671. 1670. Father Allouez made a voyage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to within a short distance of the Mississippi--a near approach to the discovery of the Father of Waters. 1671. In this year the French took formal possession of the whole Northwest, confirmed in 1689. 1673. Louis Joliet, accompanied by Father James Marquette, discovered the Mississippi river. 1674. Father Marquette coasted Lake Michigan, from Green Bay, by Milwaukee, to the site of the present city of Chicago. 1679. The Griffin, a schooner built by La Salle, and the first to make a voyage of the lakes above Niagara, arrived at the mouth of Green bay. Capt. Duluth held a council, and concluded a peace with the natives of Lake Superior. 1680. About the first of May Father Louis Hennepin arrived at Mille Lacs, as prisoner of a Dakotah war party, who captured him at Lake Pepin, while on his way up the Mississippi. He remained at Mille Lacs several months. On his return homeward, after being released, he discovered the falls, which he named for his patron saint, Anthony of Padua. His book, published after his return to Europe, is the first printed account of Minnesota. 1683. Le Sueur made a voyage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi. 1688. Nicholas Perrot first planted the cross and arms of France on the soil of Minnesota, and first laid formal claim to the country for France. He built a fort on Lake Pepin, near Lake City. 1695. Le Sueur built a fort on Isle Pelee, in the Mississippi, below Prescott. 1700. Le Sueur established Fort L'Huillier, on the Blue Earth river (near the mouth of the Le Sueur), and first supplied the Sioux with firearms. 1716. Le Louvigny's battle with the Fox Indians at Butte des Morts. 1719. Francis Renalt explored the Upper Mississippi with two hundred miners. 1721. Previous to this date a French fort had been established at Green Bay, on the present site of Fort Howard. 1727. The French established a fort on Lake Pepin, with Sieur de Lapperriere as commandant. A trading post, called Fort Beauharnois, was established on the north side of Lake Pepin. 1728. There was a great flood in the Mississippi, and Fort Beauharnois was submerged. A French expedition, under De Lignery, from Mackinaw, punished the Foxes. 1734. A battle took place between the French, and the Sacs and Foxes. 1751. Sieur Marin, in command at Green Bay, made a peace with the Indians. 1761. Capt. Balfour and Lieut. Gorrell, with English troops, took possession of Green Bay. 1763. The English, under Lieut. Gorrell, abandoned Green Bay in consequence of the Indian War under Pontiac. Treaty of Paris, by which all the territory of New France, including Wisconsin, was surrendered to the English. About this date the Canadian-French trading establishment at Green Bay ripened into a permanent settlement, the first upon any portion of the territory now forming the state of Wisconsin. By the treaty of Versailles, France ceded Minnesota east of the Mississippi to England, and west of it to Spain. 1766. Capt. Jonathan Carver visited St. Anthony falls and Minnesota river. He pretended to have made a treaty with the Indians the following spring, in a cave near St. Paul, known for several years as Carver's Cave. He also reports a town of three hundred inhabitants at Prairie du Chien. 1774. A civil government was established over Canada and the Northwest, by the celebrated "Quebec Act." 1777. Indians from Wisconsin join the British against the Americans. 1786. Julian Dubuque explored the lead region of the Upper Mississippi. 1788. There was an Indian council at Green Bay. Permission to work the lead mines was given to Dubuque. 1793. Lawrence Barth built a cabin at the portage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers, and engaged in the carrying trade. 1795. French settlement commenced at Milwaukee. 1796. The western posts were surrendered by the English to the United States, and the ordinance of 1787 extended over the Northwest. 1798-99. The Northwestern Fur Company established itself in Minnesota. 1800. Indiana Territory organized, including Wisconsin. 1803. Antoine Barth settled at the portage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers. 1804. Indian treaty at St. Louis; Southern Wisconsin purchased. 1805. Michigan Territory organized. 1809. Thomas Nuttall, the botanist, explored Wisconsin. Illinois Territory was organized, including nearly all the present state of Wisconsin. 1812. Indians assembled at Green Bay to join the English. 1814. Gov. Clark took possession of Prairie du Chien. Prairie du Chien surrendered to the British. 1815. United States trading post established at Green Bay. 1816. Indian treaty confirming that of 1804. United States troops took possession of Prairie du Chien, and commenced the erection of Fort Crawford. Col. Miller commenced the erection of Fort Howard, at Green Bay. 1818. State of Illinois was organized; Wisconsin attached to Michigan. Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac counties were organized by the territory of Michigan which embraced in their boundaries, besides other territory, the whole of the present state of Wisconsin. 1820. United States commissioners adjusted land claims at Green Bay. 1822. The New York Indians purchase lands east of Lake Winnebago. James Johnson obtained from the Indians the right to dig for lead by negro slaves from Kentucky. 1823. January. Counties of Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac made a separate judicial district by Congress. First steamboat on the Upper Mississippi, with Maj. Taliafero and Count Beltrami. Lieut. Bayfield, of the British Navy, makes a survey of Lake Superior. 1824. First term of United States court held at Green Bay, Judge Duane Doty presiding. 1825. Great flood on the Red River of the North; a part of the colony driven to Minnesota, and settle near Fort Snelling. 1826. First steamboat on Lake Michigan. 1827. Rush of speculators to lead mines. Treaty with Menomonies at Butte des Morts. 1828. Fort Winnebago built. Indian treaty at Green Bay. Lead ore discovered at Mineral Point and at Dodgeville. 1832. Black Hawk War. Schoolcraft explored sources of Mississippi river. First mission established at Leech Lake, by Rev. W. T. Boutwell, now of Stillwater. 1834. The portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi attached to Michigan. Gen. H. H. Sibley settles at Mendota. 1835. Catlin and Featherstonhaugh visit Minnesota. 1836. The territory of Wisconsin organized. Nicollet visits Minnesota. 1837. Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin, made a treaty at Fort Snelling, with the Ojibways, by which the latter ceded lands on the St. Croix and its tributaries; a treaty was also effected at Washington with a deputation of Dakotahs for their lands east of the Mississippi. These treaties led the way to the first actual settlements in the Territory. 1838. The treaty ratified by Congress. Frank Steele makes a claim at St. Anthony Falls. Pierre Parrant makes a claim and builds a shanty on the present site of St. Paul. 1839. Sioux and Chippewa battle fought near Stillwater. 1840. St. Croix county established. The chapel of "St. Paul" built and consecrated, giving the name to the capital of the state of Minnesota. 1843. Stillwater settled. 1846. August 6th, the Wisconsin enabling act passed. 1847. The Wisconsin constitutional convention meets. The town of St. Paul surveyed, platted and recorded in the St. Croix county register of deeds' office. First improvement of the water power at falls of St.