Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

Accordingly, we say as requested, that Norman Wiard, inventor of the Ice Boat, will be in Prairie du Chien before long with a twenty-passenger steam ice boat, which he has now in process of construction at New York, and hopes by such means to keep open communication with St. Paul and Prairie du Chien, connecting, always up to time, with the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad.

He will also be prepared with a pioneer machine to level a track, when it is necessary, where the ice is rough. His twenty-passenger boat can be raised or lowered, while in motion or at rest, to enable it to pass through a uniform depth of snow of three feet. It has devices that are ample and practical, by which it can pass over or through snow banks and drifts; even if it should be run into a bank of snow twenty feet in depth and there stopped, it can immediately be passed through it or over it, or be backed out with the greatest facility. It is an amphibious machine, is this Ice Boat, as it can be run off the ice at a speed of twenty miles an hour into the water with safety; and it can propel itself across the water to contact with the ice on the other side, and get out upon the ice and be put again in operation without any material delay. It is, also, almost dangerproof; for, if it should be thrown into the water by accident, on its side, or even bottom up, it would right itself instantly; and about thirty holes would have to be broken in the hull before it could be sunk, even if it were full of water.

Mr. Wiard exhibited a model of his Ice Boat at the fair of the American Institute, N. Y., and received therefor the highest award; the operations of his model corroborate the statements made above; and the minutes of the Polytechnic Club, before whom he exhibited his plans at their request, says [_sic_] that the working of the model “proved his statements.” The practicability of the boat itself will soon be tested on the ice of the Mississippi, and the judgment which will then be pronounced [will be] a final one.

[Corner torn off] driver only, and can go up and down hill and into the water, safely! “Please to say all this,” says Mr. Wiard, “for I assure you, I believe it all!” So will we all, when we see it, and the sight is promised us.

Mr. John Cleveland, 35 Wall Street, N. Y., is now the trustee of the patent, and by the liberal subscription of a few intelligent and responsible gentlemen of that city Mr. Wiard is enabled to fully develop and test his plans. The machine he is now building is said to be beautiful as well as useful; and it seems likely to attract a number of New Yorkers to visit Prairie du Chien when Mr. Wiard brings it here.

Should this invention prove to be a practical one, Norman Wiard’s name will be ranked along with that of Fulton, Stephenson, and Morse. If his machine should prove valueless, the worst that can or will be said, will be that he _deserved_ success.

THE ICE BOAT[81]

The Prairie du Chien _Leader_ says it is not, and never has been, the intention of Mr. Wiard to test the practicability of his invention with the boat half built last winter, and which remains in _statue_ [sic] _quo_ yet, being too large, heavy, and unwieldy for the experiment.

[60] See article by Henry E. Legler, _Early Wisconsin
Imprints: A Preliminary Essay_, in Wisconsin Historical
Society, _Proceedings_, 1905, 121.

[61] The Racine _Advocate_ of March 3, 1846, contains a
half-column notice of Smith’s book, then newly published at
Milwaukee.

[62] Copies of two later editions of the _Poetical
Geography_ are owned by the Wisconsin Historical Library.
One was published at Cincinnati in 1852, the other at New
York in 1853.

[63] This memorandum was prepared for submission to the
Committee on State Affairs of the Wisconsin Assembly in
April, 1917. A bill had been introduced in the assembly by
the committee which provided that the name “Joliet” should
be given to the state park at the mouth of the Wisconsin
River. As a result of the memorandum, the bill was amended
by substituting the spelling “Jolliet” in the name of the
park.

[64] Missing in the original--Transcriber’s Note]

[65] R. G. Thwaites, _The Jesuit Relations and Allied
Documents_ (Cleveland, 1896-1901), LIX, 86, 121, 123, 159.

[66] Cited by Ernest Gagnon, _Louis Jolliet, decouvreur du
Mississippi et du pays des Illinois_ … (Quebec, 1902), 2.

[67] R. G. Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, XXX, 181; L, 191.

[68] L. P. Kellogg, _Early Narratives of the Northwest_ (New
York, 1917), 191-92.

[69] P. Margry, _Découvertes et Etablissements des Français_
(Paris, 1876-86), I, 96.

[70] R. G. Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, LVIII, 92, 102.

[71] Margry, I, 255.

[72] _Ibid._, 257; Henri Harrisse, _Notes pour Servir a la
histoire … de la nouvelle France et des pays adjacents
1545-1700_ (Paris, 1872, 131, 133).

[73] Margry, I, 259-62.

[74] _Ibid._, 329.

[75] Gagnon (see _ante_), 157.

[76] LXVIII, 86.

[77] Reprinted by permission from the New York _Nation_,
February 22, 1917.

[78] Livingston Rutherfurd, _John Peter Zenger: His Press,
His Trial, and a Bibliography of Zenger Imprints_ (New York,
1904).

[79] From the Prairie du Chien _Courier_, December 1, 1859.

[80] From the Prairie du Chien _Leader_, December 8, 1859.

[81] From the Milwaukee _Sentinel_, December 9, 1859.

EDITORIALS

INTRODUCING OURSELVES

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin is now in the sixty-eighth year of its existence. Quiescent during its first few years, with the coming of Lyman C. Draper to the secretaryship of the Society in 1854 it immediately entered upon a period of aggressive activity which has continued without interruption to the present moment. During the sixty years of the remarkable leadership of Dr. Draper and Dr. Thwaites the Society deservedly acquired the reputation of being one of the leading historical organizations of the country. Our library, if not the largest, is one of the best of its kind and in many respects its collections are unique. In other fields of activity, too, the Society’s achievements have been no less creditable to it and to the state it represents.

No sadder disaster could befall the Society, however, than the development on the part of its members of a feeling of serene satisfaction with the record of its achievements. As with all living organisms, we must go forward or retrograde. Only dead ones are static. The manifold life of our state and country is constantly changing. If our Society is to fulfil its proper function, it must constantly strive to adjust itself to the current developments of the world to which it belongs. With the passage of time the ancient good becomes uncouth and it behooves us to assume the new duties which new occasions teach.

In this spirit, after much thought and planning, we launch the WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY. The problem of our historical society differs materially from that of many others, particularly those in the older-settled sections of the country. It must justify the support which the taxpayers so liberally accord by rendering to the public the fullest possible measure of service, and to this ideal it has long subscribed. Equally important is it, however, that the public should be aware of the facilities for service which the Society possesses in order that these may be utilized. It is believed that the publication of a quarterly magazine, devoted to the historical interests of the state will afford a better avenue of communication with the Society’s members and the general public than has been possessed heretofore. Without sacrificing in any way the scholarly ideals of the Society, it is hoped to make the magazine as interesting as may be to the ordinary reader. As our immediate constituency we have in mind the seven hundred members of the Society, whose tastes and interests, we have faith to believe, are shared by thousands of other citizens of Wisconsin. The historical interests of the professional scholars among our membership are catered to by numerous historical reviews, but no publication meets the needs of the far greater proportion of our members who are not included in this group. To this constituency, primarily, it is hoped the magazine will appeal. If this hope shall be realized we will account the magazine a success. If it shall be disappointed, on the contrary, the energies of the Society’s working force will be directed to more fruitful ends as soon as this fact shall have been established.

OUR STATE FLAG

How many, we wonder, of those into whose hands this magazine may come are aware that the beautiful banner represented on its cover is the official state flag of Wisconsin? That the number is much smaller than it should be is certain. When we set out in quest of an example of our state flag, our first application was at the nearby armory, but the officer in charge confidently assured us that Wisconsin has no state flag, and appealed to Webster’s _New International_ to support his assertion. Notwithstanding the evidence of both soldier and dictionary, for over fifty years Wisconsin regiments have carried the state flag, although its legal definition and precise present design date back only to 1913. That our beautiful banner, hallowed on many a bloody battlefield, is so little known to our citizens is not at all to our credit. Nor is it creditable that the service flags in the hands of the custodian of public property at the capitol fail in almost every respect to conform to the official specifications for the state flag as set forth in the statutes.

THE SOCIETY AND THE LEGISLATURE

Members and friends of the Society may congratulate themselves, on the whole, on the treatment accorded it by the state legislature of 1917. In view of economic and political conditions generally, and of the local political situation in particular, it was to have been expected that the legislators would scrutinize our budget estimates with care, and that enthusiasm for new advances, whether in work or in appropriations, would be conspicuous by its absence. It is gratifying to record that the members of the joint finance committee of the two houses accorded the representatives of the Society an appreciative hearing and manifested a desire to provide for its activities during the coming biennium with enlightened, albeit prudent, liberality. Since the task of presenting the Society’s needs to the legislature devolves chiefly upon the writer of these lines, the occasion is gladly improved to acknowledge in particular the broad-minded attitude of Senator Platt Whitman of Highland, and Assemblyman E. A. Everett of Eagle River, chairmen of the joint finance committee.

From one point of view, however, the present financial situation of the Society is far from gratifying. It is running on substantially the same budget as was first laid down in 1912, and this will, of course, continue to be the case at least until July 1, 1919. No one who is mature enough to be reading these lines, need be told that the purchasing power of a given sum of money has shrunk alarmingly since 1912. In effect, therefore, the Society’s income has decreased in recent years in proportion as the cost of living generally has steadily increased. To take a single illustration, the cost of heating the library building in the year ending June 30, 1916, was (in round numbers) $5,500; for the succeeding fiscal year it was $7,400; while the estimates for the year just entered upon call for an expenditure of $11,000 for this purpose. Obviously the library building must continue to be heated. It follows, therefore, with the total income of the Society stationary from year to year, that the additional sum required for coal must be gained by curtailing other activities of the Society, which constitute its real excuse for existence. The importance of this subject is such that a suitable occasion will be sought later to lay it before our readers in fuller detail.

NELSON DEWEY PARK AND THE FIRST WISCONSIN CAPITOL

Several other matters of peculiar interest to the historically-minded citizens of Wisconsin were acted upon by the recent legislature. We record with chief pleasure in this connection the provision made for the preservation of our first territorial capitol at Belmont (now Leslie). Eleven years ago the superintendent of the Society, Dr. Thwaites, made an effort to secure the restoration of this quondam statehouse for a region imperial in extent, and the story of his effort is told in the _Proceedings_ of the Society for 1906. At that time the legislature failed to act upon his sensible advice, however, and the matter was allowed to drop. At the recent legislative session, Mr. M. P. Rindlaub of Platteville, veteran editor of southern Wisconsin, took up anew the agitation for the preservation of the capitol building. This time the advice was heeded and the sum of $3,000 was appropriated for the purpose in view. Mr. Rindlaub’s plan contemplated the removal and renovation of the capitol and the making of provision for a permanent caretaker who, under the control of the state conservation commission, should look after it. For these objects the sum of $10,000 was asked. The amount granted will suffice but partially to execute the entire project, but it will at least insure the permanent preservation of the building.

The action of the legislature in naming the state park at the mouth of the Wisconsin was, in our opinion, distinctly unwise. Citizens of Wisconsin do not need to be reminded that the historical association which provided the driving motive for securing this splendid tract for a state park preserve several years ago was the discovery of the Mississippi River at this point by the famous expedition of Jolliet and Marquette in 1673. Because of this fact, and of the additional one that the park was bought by and belongs to the entire state, the name either of Jolliet or Marquette should unquestionably have been given to the park. As between these two there would perhaps be little reason for preference were it not for the fact that Marquette has twice been signally honored by the state (by naming a county for him and by choosing him as one of the two Wisconsin characters whose statue is placed in the national capitol) while to Jolliet no recognition, official or otherwise, has ever been accorded in Wisconsin.

Curiously enough, the park has been allowed to exist for several years without a legal name. During this time residents of the vicinity developed the habit of calling it Glenn Park, after former Senator Glenn who sold the land to the state, while the conservation commission, as a matter of convenience, referred to it as Marquette Park. When a bill was introduced at the recent legislative session providing that the park be officially named after Senator Glenn, a number of officers and members of the Society bestirred themselves to defeat the measure through the process of enlightening the legislature with respect to the historical and other considerations involved. It is proper to record in this connection that Assembly Kurtenacker of La Crosse, on being apprised of the situation, cheerfully joined with the representatives of the Society in the effort to have the bill which he had himself introduced by request, killed in committee. This effort met with success, and the assembly committee on state affairs reported a bill to the lower chamber providing that the park be named in honor of Jolliet. The assembly passed the bill, but in the senate it was amended by substituting for Jolliet the name of Nelson Dewey, first governor of the state, and in this form it became a law.

We believe that the motive which prompted the senate amendment was laudable, but that the judgment displayed was weak. Apparently the impression that the park should be considered in some peculiar sense as a perquisite of the people of southwestern Wisconsin, as opposed to the state as a whole, could not be surmounted. With no remote desire to detract from the fame or merit of Governor Dewey, we do not think the mere circumstance of his residence having been at Cassville constitutes a pertinent reason for giving his name to this park, the very existence of which is due to the famous discovery of June 17, 1673. Incidentally, however, the entire discussion was productive of good, since it called the attention of the public anew to the value and significance of the factor of historical associations in the selection of place names.

PERROT STATE PARK AND JOHN A. LATSCH

Another park development of the past year which is peculiarly gratifying to the State Historical Society pertains to the new state park at Trempealeau. For many years the Society has been actively interested in this locality because of the richness of its historical associations. In particular, in recent years a series of historical articles pertaining to the locality written by Dr. Eben D. Pierce, member and curator of the Society, has been published in the volumes of _Proceedings_. Largely through these activities the interest of Mr. Latsch, a leading business man of Winona, was awakened to the desirability of securing historic Trempealeau Mountain and the adjoining river frontage as a permanent park preserve. To this end he purchased some 800 acres of land including the mountain and the adjoining river bluffs, and offered the whole as a gift to the State Historical Society. Because the Society lacks the facilities for administering such a trust, on the Superintendent’s recommendation the gift was diverted to the conservation commission, which is admirably qualified to administer it. At the time of writing these lines (July, 1917) it only remains to complete certain legal details when the formal transfer of the property to the state will be made. Thus the famous peak, noted by Pike and Schoolcraft and many another early explorer, together with the site of ancient Fort Perrot, one of the earliest establishments of civilized man in the upper Mississippi Valley, is added to our already splendid system of state parks. Aside from the historical associations of the place, the river scenery at this point is rarely impressive and beautiful; while Trempealeau Mountain itself is said to be peculiarly rich in botanical specimens.

But by what authority, it may be asked, have we headed this editorial “Perrot State Park.” Pressed for an answer, we must admit that the title expresses a hope merely, rather than a consummation already realized. One of the motives, we understand, responsible for the interest Mr. Latsch has shown in the matter was a feeling of veneration for his boyhood home and for his Swiss father who settled in Latsch Valley some two generations ago. Under the circumstances it would not be strange if the donor, following the example long since set by a notable giver of libraries to the American public, should impose as a condition of his gift to the state the requirement that the park be named in honor of his father. We understand, instead, that Mr. Latsch himself desires the park to be named in honor of Nicolas Perrot, the famous French explorer, who passed the winter of 1685-86 a short distance down the river from Trempealeau Mountain and within the confines of the new state park. The fine modesty and sense of historical appreciation displayed by Mr. Latsch in thus desiring to honor the intrepid explorer require no words of commendation at our hands. We may express the hope, however, that when a future state legislature shall come to the task of bestowing a legal name on the park, it will possess a like degree of judgment concerning the historical fitness of things. Perhaps Mr. Latsch might insure this in advance by making the gift of the land to the state dependent upon its acceptance of the name of Perrot for the park.

FOREST FIRES, GENERALLY AND IN PARTICULAR

From the beginning of Wisconsin’s development until the close of the nineteenth century, lumbering constituted one of the chief sources of the state’s wealth and business activity. In 1860 the lumber industry, still in its infancy in Wisconsin, ranked second only to agriculture in importance. The story of its rise and decline constitutes one of the most important and thrilling chapters in our history as a state. In this respect our history conforms to the general rule that in every new country the natural resources closest at hand are the first to be exploited. Well had it been for state and nation had our lumbermen, in their mad rush to transmute our magnificent forests into gold, paid more regard to the welfare of future generations and squandered less recklessly this splendid “gift of the ages.”

This statement of these reflections brings us to the point of suggesting the broader historical significance of Mr. Bracklin’s article in the present number of the WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY. One of the prolific factors making for the waste of our lumbering resources was fire. In the words of a recent writer this was “the dread scourge of the lumber industry.” The sawmills and sawmill towns, flimsily constructed of inflammable pine, were periodically swept by the flames. Although the mills and mill towns were commonly rebuilt with characteristic American vigor, the forest fires were the source of appalling loss to the state. Yet the public mind was for many years indifferent to these losses, and the fires were commonly left to burn themselves out, with no human effort to impede or check the course of the flames. In 1864 one of the greatest conflagrations which had ever visited the state swept for weeks through the northern pinery regions, yet so indifferent were the people of southern Wisconsin to the matter that it received scarcely any notice in the newspapers of this section.

Our numerous forest fires, then, have possessed not only thrilling human interest but vast economic significance. Mr. Bracklin’s narrative describes a single personal experience with one small forest fire. What he experienced and here describes, however, applies with suitable variation of details to hundreds of similar events in Wisconsin. In this fact consists its broader significance.

CONSOLATION FOR THE PRESENT CRISIS

It seems evident, from the sources of information at our command, that the Imperial German Government counted largely on its ability to neutralize the national will of America by fostering among Americans of German descent a spirit of disloyalty to their country. That the citizens of the Badger State in particular could thus be cajoled into playing a traitor’s rôle was not only believed in Germany, but widely feared in our own country as well. That our citizens of German descent should be enthusiastic about going into the war was not reasonably to have been expected; that, faced with a hard duty, they should prefer to play the rôle of traitor is quite another matter. We do not believe, and from the beginning have not feared, that any considerable number will make such a choice.

In such a time of trial and stress as the present we are fairly entitled to gain what comfort we may from an examination of our past. The simple truth is that, with the possible exception of the Spanish War, we enter upon the present struggle with more of unanimity and resolution than has been the case with any other great war in our history. Of our unfortunate divisions and discords during the Revolution and the War of 1812 every schoolboy is informed. The North had little enthusiasm for the Mexican War and largely abstained from participation in it. The Civil War was a fratricidal contest, but the South eliminated from consideration, the people of the North were sadly divided in counsels and desires. That this was true of Wisconsin has been largely forgotten by our citizens. The present generation has forgotten, if indeed it was ever aware of, the fact that Wisconsin was the seat of a formidable copperhead sentiment during the war; that there was widespread opposition to the enforcement of the draft by the federal government; and that a largely attended mass meeting at the state capital in April, 1861, after the firing on Fort Sumter, laid on the table a resolution pledging support to President Lincoln. It is true the local paper declared, in the latter instance, that a majority of those present favored the resolution but were circumvented in their desire by the chairman of the meeting; but even so it is evident that there must have been a large element of opposition to have enabled him to carry through the maneuver. Notwithstanding the deliberation with which the recent legislature went about expressing its support of the national government, it requires no hardihood to affirm that no chairman of a public gathering, however traitorous his desire, could have prevented a Madison audience of 1917 from expressing its intention of standing behind the national government.

To touch for a moment upon another matter, the political ideals of the period preceding the Civil War were shockingly low in comparison with those of the present time. If there has been any graft in connection with the construction of our new $7,000,000 capitol, the public is as yet totally unconscious of the fact. Three-quarters of a century ago, on the contrary, we could not build even a forty-thousand-dollar capitol without a riot of mismanagement and dishonesty. The period of “Barstow and the balance,” and of the “forty thieves” signifies more than the addition of a picturesque phrase to our political annals. Instead of constituting a rare exception, the political morality which these phrases suggest was painfully commonplace in Wisconsin prior to the Civil War. It was only a few years before we entered upon that great struggle that a powerful corporation brazenly established a pay-counter at the capital and bought with paltry silver the entire state legislature, and even the governor himself. Idealists are by no means satisfied with the political standards and practices of our public men of the present day, but they are lily-white in comparison with the similar standards of the fifties in Wisconsin.

Or again, let us glance by way of comparison at the financial situation. The diary of Harvey Reid, published elsewhere in this magazine, affords an inkling, at least, of our deplorable financial condition in 1861. The national banking-system still lay in the womb of the future, while the treacherous “wild cats” flourished at the expense alike of private fortunes and public credit. With the first breath of war these institutions toppled in headlong ruin, notwithstanding that the state legislature, heedless of constitutional prohibitions, essayed vainly to prevent the crash. Within four days after the news of the firing on Fort Sumter, specie payments were suspended in Wisconsin; and the efforts of the government to float a war loan of $1,200,000 on the credit of the state of Wisconsin in the summer of 1861 met with dismal and inglorious failure.

We do not remind the present generation of these things in any pharisaical attitude, but for the encouragement they afford to us at this time. The outstanding fact is that in the very face of such conditions as we have adverted to, Wisconsin girded herself for the task and played a noble part in the Civil War. We enter the present struggle immeasurably better prepared from almost every viewpoint than we did the one of old. If, as we believe, our people still retain a fair measure of pluck and ability, the record we are about to make should be correspondingly better than that of fifty years ago.

THE QUESTION BOX

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| _The Wisconsin Historical Library has long maintained a |
| bureau of historical information for the benefit of those who |
| care to avail themselves of the service it offers. In “The |
| Question Box” will be printed from time to time such queries, |
| with the answers made to them, as possess sufficient general |
| interest to render their publication worth while._ |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

THE OLDEST CHURCH IN WISCONSIN

You will recall the little church in Ephraim where you gave
us your historical address a few years ago. This church was
built in 1857, dedicated in 1859, and has been in continuous
use ever since.

I have wondered if there is any older church still in use in
Wisconsin. I have gone through the records of two-thirds of
the counties of the state and, while I have found that many
churches were erected prior to this, these have all been
superseded by later structures. I wonder if your staff can
give me any assistance in ascertaining the existence of any
older house of worship?

H. R. HOLAND,
_Ephraim, Wisconsin_.

One of the oldest church buildings in Wisconsin is undoubtedly that known as The Old Mission on Madelaine Island. This was built in 1839 and dedicated in 1840 for the American Board of Home Missions, now part of the Presbyterian denomination. This building is now used for worship at least during the summer season, but has not been so employed consecutively, as it was closed in the fifties and not reopened until 1892. In 1901 is was removed to its present location, and restored and redecorated in 1915.

The oldest frame church in Wisconsin was built in 1839 at Kellogg’s Corners, now Sylvania, in Racine County, for the use of the Methodist denomination. So far as we can ascertain, the old church is still standing, but whether or not it is now used for service we are not informed.

There is a country church near Waterford in Racine County which was built in 1846 and is still in excellent condition and in active use. Only last year it was thoroughly renovated at a cost of some $3,500--several times as much as the original cost of the building. This church stands in what is known as the English Settlement by reason of the fact that the community was largely settled by immigrants from England in the early forties. The church is unique both in its organization and in its history.

It is evident, therefore, that while your church at Ephraim may be among the older structures of the state still used for religious services, it cannot claim the honor of priority in this respect.

THE FIRST MILLS IN THE FOX RIVER VALLEY

I am preparing recollections of early days in the Fox River
Valley and will be pleased to supply you with results of my
efforts in this direction. I am somewhat confused on some of
the items, especially the establishment of the first saw and
grist mill on the south or east side (my old home), of the
river and across from Kaukauna. My friend, Mr. John D. Lawe,
son of the late George W. Lawe, writes me that James M. Boyd
and Paul Hudon _dit_ Beaulieu, my grandfather, “built a saw
mill along the rapid,” etc. The date given by Mr. Lawe for
the building of the saw mill is 1832. A few years later my
father, Bazil H. Beaulieu, came in possession of both mills.
I was told when I was a boy that the mills were originally
built by the federal government for the use and purposes of
the Menominee, as also of the Brothertown Indians, the
latter being now scattered on farms on the east shore of
Lake Winnebago, across from Oshkosh. Furthermore, I was told
that the said mills were the second of the kind built in
Wisconsin, then the territory of Michigan. Have you any
facts or data at hand which might serve to verify or throw
more light on the subject?

T. H. BEAULIEU,
_White Earth, Minnesota_.

With regard to the Fox River Valley mills, the earliest, both saw and grist, were built by Jacob Franks on Devil’s River some time shortly after 1800. They afterwards came into the possession of John Lawe, and were operated by him for many years. Pierre A. Grignon built a grist mill on Reaume or Glaize Creek in 1810. This was used to provide food for the war parties of Robert Dickson in the War of 1812. The miller was Grignon’s brother-in-law, Dominique Brunette usually called Masca.

Augustin Grignon built a grist mill at Kaukauna on the north side of the stream, about 1818. Two years later the United States government had a sawmill erected at Little Rapids to prepare material for Fort Howard and its outlying buildings.

In 1821-22 the Menominee, who had a village at South Kaukauna, sold a large tract to the New York Indians. In the latter year the Stockbridge began to move to their tract, which began just above the Menominee village. The government had built for the Stockbridge Indians a sawmill, which was finished some time before 1830. At that date a grist mill was proposed by the Stockbridge. Probably that was when your father took over the mills and repaired them, and perhaps enlarged them. The Brothertown Indians were settled with the Stockbridge, and removed with them to the east side of Lake Winnebago. The Menominee Indians had mills built for them by the government, but that was after the Treaty of 1846, and they were built much higher up the river, at or near Menasha.

COLONEL ELLSWORTH’S MADISON CAREER

I am collecting materials for a life of Col. E. E. Ellsworth
and would ask if you have in your library anything
concerning his drilling of the Governor’s Guard in your city
in the space between 1858 and 1860. I understand that his
stay was not very long, a few weeks probably, but I cannot
state definitely the year. It would be a great help to me if
you would look up this matter, and if you could send me full
information and copies of important phases relating in any
manner to his sojourn in your town, I would be greatly
obliged. I am in this work simply to resurrect and save from
oblivion the history of a great and martyred name of our
country, one which has been strangely neglected. The more I
study into his life and collect the materials from scattered
and almost forgotten sources, the more I am convinced that
he was a young man of remarkable genius, worthy of
perpetuation in the annals of the nation.

From the success that has so far rewarded my search, I am
encouraged to believe that ere long I will be in possession
of everything of real importance that belonged to his
career. I was well acquainted with his father and my home is
within easy reach of his birthplace. and of Mechanicsville,
New York, where he was buried and where a fine monument
stands to his memory.

C. A. INGRAHAM,
_Cambridge, New York_.

We find in our collections a few memorials of E. E. Ellsworth that we think would interest you. In an old book of autographs there is a tiny photograph that has been identified as that of Ellsworth. It is only about an inch long and yet it is perfectly clear and well-defined; the uniform shows to great advantage, and there are three medals on the breast of the coat. Among the other relics is a drawing about sixteen inches by twelve, the head of a fine-looking man with lifted eyes. This is signed “Ellsworth” and “EEE.” It was presented to the Society by N. B. Van Slyke, who gave the information that it was a “Sketch drawn by Col. E. E. Ellsworth in 1858 at Madison, Wisconsin, and presented to N. B. Van Slyke while the young man was at Madison.” Pasted upon this drawing are several newspaper slips giving Ellsworth’s biography, the last letter which he wrote to his parents from Washington, May 23, 1861, accounts of his death and funeral, and a poem in his honor.

Upon consulting the Madison newspapers for 1858 we secured the following items: The Governor’s Guard was organized February 18, 1858, with Julius P. Atwood as captain. April 20, the Guard appeared upon the street for the first time trained by Lieutenant C. W. Harris. The Guard was very prominent socially, and gave many balls and soirées. It took part in public celebrations on the Fourth of July, at the university commencement, and at the state fair. June 25, the Guard first appeared in uniform. No mention appears of Ellsworth until Oct. 15, 1858, when a Cadet Corps formed. Twenty-five Madison boys met at the Governor’s Guard Armory, and Maj. E. E. Ellsworth, who was unanimously elected commandant, immediately put the cadets to drill. October 18, the Governor’s Guard was summoned to drill three evenings in the week, no spectators allowed. October 20 the papers contain notices of the drilling of the cadets by their commandant, Maj. E. E. Ellsworth, who “Is an accomplished and thorough drill master.” Another paper says the cadets “are ambitious to become the best drilled company in the State and their aptness has called forth a high compliment from Major Ellsworth.”

An exhaustive search does not reveal his name again. On December 26, 1858, the Governor’s Guard “were out in full uniform for the first time since the State Fair and to us appear much improved in a military point.”

We have not been able to determine what brought Ellsworth to Madison. W. J. Ellsworth lived in the city at the time. Possibly they were kinsmen.

One other relic of Ellsworth’s activities among us is in the Keyes Papers. In 1910, Col. Elisha W. Keyes wrote an article for the Madison _Democrat_ on the organization of the Governor’s Guard. In it he says “Soon after the organization of the guard he [Ellsworth] appeared in Madison and spent much time, without Compensation, in drilling the men. He was then a young man, not much over 30 years of age. He had been an apt student of military science and discipline. His heart and soul were in the work. His enthusiasm was boundless, although at the time of his work here no one hardly dreamed that the rebellion was possible. Before he left he contemplated the full organization of the eighteenth regiment State militia [of which Keyes was then Colonel]. I have in my possession now a roll of maps and instructions for regimental drill, which involved much labor, that he prepared for me, as colonel, without reward.” These drafts came to the Society with Judge Keyes’s other papers. They are large map-like drafts, colored, of the positions of the regiment, and fully written out directions in Ellsworth’s own hand for the various orders for military positions and movements.

Probably you know that Ellsworth’s diary was given to Frank Brownell, his avenger. We have two pamphlets giving liberal excerpts from the diary, but we find therein no mention of Madison. Probably the full text of this diary would show when and why he came to Madison.

Your letter of the nineteenth instant concerning Ellsworth
is before me and I wish to thank you earnestly for the time
and care which you have devoted to this subject; it
illuminates a portion of his career with which I was
entirely unacquainted and which to have searched out myself
would have involved much expense and inconvenience. Your
communication will be excellent to appear verbatim in the
book.

I am unable to say as to the identity of W. J. Ellsworth,
but I have written to an uncle of Colonel Ellsworth who may
be able to shed light on the matter. Colonel Keyes, when he
estimated Ellsworth’s age as “not over 30 years” when he was
in Madison, was evidently deceived by his remarkable degree
of development, which was in advance of his age: at that
time he was but twenty-one, having been born April 11, 1837.

Ellsworth’s diary I have not yet unearthed. John Hay’s
article published in _McClure’s Magazine_, VI, 354, has many
citations from it, but nothing concerning Madison. Mr. Hay
also contributed to the _Atlantic_, very soon after
Ellsworth’s death, a fine article on him (VIII, 119), and
the two comprise the best literature so far published on
Ellsworth. These two young men were students in Lincoln’s
law office, and Mr. Hay all his life down to his last years
mourned for him, whom he estimated as a most wonderfully
brilliant and patriotically devoted man whose future would
have been exceedingly prominent and useful. My own
investigations lead me to the same conclusion. Yet he had
very few early advantages; practically none, except a
limited district school education. His parents, whom I knew,
were plain people, and others of the relations whom I have
met or corresponded with exhibit nothing out of the common.

C. A. INGRAHAM,
_Cambridge, New York_.

THE STORY OF “GLORY OF THE MORNING”

We are about to give the play _Glory of the Morning_. I am
under the impression that there was such a character in
Wisconsin as “Glory of the Morning,” and that she was
married to a Frenchman, and deserted by him, as in the play.

Can you give me any information concerning her?

(MRS.) F. H. ANDERSON,
_Brooklyn, Wisconsin_.

“Glory of the Morning” was an historical character, and one of the staff on the Wisconsin Historical Society related to Professor Leonard the incident on which he founded the play. He has taken poet’s license with certain parts--with the names, for instance, of the son and daughter; but in _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, VII, 345, you can read the story as told by a French-Canadian trader. “Glory of the Morning” was a Winnebago chieftess, and Jonathan Carver, when very old, saw her at her village near Menasha, Wisconsin. The French officer whose name was Sabrevoir Decorah (also spelled DeCarrie, DesCarie, DeKaury, and other ways), came to Wisconsin probably during the Fox wars of the early eighteenth century. He married the daughter (“Glory of the Morning”) of the head chief of the tribe; resigned from the army, and became a trader. They had two sons and a daughter. When the French and Indian War began Decorah was summoned to become a soldier, and he took his daughter with him to be educated in Canada. The father was killed at the battle of Ste. Foye in 1760. The girl married a Montreal merchant and her son or grandson, Laurent Fily, came to Wisconsin as a trader and lived for many years with Augustin Grignon at Kaukauna. Many of his letters are in the Wisconsin Historical Library.

The two sons of the chieftess became chiefs of the tribe, and had many descendants. The Decorah family in the nineteenth century was the most powerful of the Winnebago families. Several of its members still live in Nebraska. Two years ago an educated Indian girl, teacher of art at Carlisle Indian School, visited Madison. Her maiden name was Angel Decorah, and she traced her lineage directly to “Glory of the Morning.” The Winnebago name of the chieftess was Hopokoékaw.

THE ODANAH INDIAN RESERVATION

Will you please give me some information concerning the
reservation near Odanah, Wisconsin? I desire to learn the
names of the chiefs who ceded the reservation and also the
terms of the cession; what each member of the tribe is
entitled to receive, and the address of the agent. I am
entitled to the same per-capita allotment as other members
of the tribe and this fact accounts for my interest in the
matter. Please give me, therefore, a history of the
reservation.

GEORGE ALLEN,
_Bay Shore, Michigan_.

The Chippewa of Lake Superior made a final cession of all their lands at a treaty held at La Pointe, September 30, 1844. In return for the cession, the government provided several reservations for the tribesmen. That at Bad River, of which the chief town is Odanah, comprises 124,333 acres of land. This land, at the time the reservation was set aside, was heavily timbered. The Indians were entitled to annuities for twenty years, and each head of a family or single person over twenty-one years of age had the right to eighty acres of land. The chiefs who signed the treaty were members of the La Pointe band.

In 1875 the annuities were paid for the last time, according to the treaty stipulations. Congress, however, in consideration of the Indians’ need, made appropriations to continue the payments for several years. After 1882 the Indian Department permitted the sale of timber from the reservation; logging operations furnished wages for the working Indians, and the sale of the timber placed a considerable sum to their credit. The Chippewa claimed additional sums on treaty stipulations. Whether these claims have ever been settled or not can be ascertained from the Indian Department at Washington. As for the land, by 1913, 83,871 acres had been allotted in eighty-acre tracts to genuine claimants. Enough of the reservation remains for more eighty-acre tracts to be assigned to those who can prove their rights to claims. Timber is still being taken from the reservation.

For further information write to R. S. Buckland, special agent for the Chippewa Indians, Baraga, Michigan; or to Philip S. Everest, superintendent, Ashland, Wisconsin.

FIRST EXPLORATION OF EASTERN WISCONSIN

I should be pleased to ascertain who was the first white man
to pass or voyage past the shores of Sheboygan County,
Jolliet and Marquette or Father Claude Allouez? Allouez is
said to have been the first to explore the west shore of
Lake Michigan, but I have not been able to find out whether
he reached Sheboygan County.

ALFONSE GEREND,
_Cato, Wisconsin_.

We dislike very much to say dogmatically who was the first Frenchman to skirt the coast of Lake Michigan south of Sturgeon Bay portage. The more we study the subject the more we are inclined to believe that the records we possess reveal but a fragment of the activities of the French explorers, traders, and missionaries around Green Bay during the seventeenth century. We do not know but that Jean Nicolet may have coasted south in 1634; on the other hand, we do not know that he did. No one has yet been wise enough to lay out the course of the wanderings of Radisson and Groseilliers. For my own part, it seems probable that one of the first, if not the first, white Frenchman who visited all the villages between Green Bay and Chicago was Nicolas Perrot, who between 1665-70 spent five years in the country, much of the time with the Potawatomi tribesmen. Benjamin Sulte, a very careful Canadian investigator, asserts categorically that Perrot was the first white man at Chicago. (Sulte’s articles in French in the Canada Royal Society _Proceedings_, 1903-13, throw much light on early seventeenth century conditions. They have never been translated, and are known only to a few scholars.) So far as I am able to judge, however, Sulte’s statement is based purely upon inference and is not backed by a written account. Therefore, it is certainly fair to say that the first definite written record of white men skirting the coast of the western shore of Lake Michigan is found in the journal of Father Jacques Marquette, who in September, 1673 came back to Green Bay via the Chicago and Sturgeon Bay portages.

With regard to Father Claude Allouez, I think we can speak with more certainty. He did not go to the Illinois mission until after the death of Marquette. He set out in the autumn of 1676 and wintered among the Potawatomi near Sturgeon Bay. You will find a synopsis of his voyage in _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XVI, 96.

You may be interested in seeing a copy of _Early Narratives of the Northwest_ just published by Scribner & Co. This volume contains most of the journals of these early explorers.

A COMMUNITY CHANGES ITS NAME

Some twenty-five years ago there was a place in Wisconsin
called North Greenfield. Evidently the name has been changed
for the reason that letters addressed to individuals at that
place are returned, with the information that there is no
such place in the state.

What is the present name of the locality formerly known as
North Greenfield?

SEYMOUR MORRIS,
_Chicago, Illinois_.

The post office, situated in Milwaukee County, and known as North Greenfield, changed its name about 1903, when it became West Allis.

HOW THE APOSTLE ISLANDS WERE NAMED

If such record exists, I should like to obtain from it a
statement of how the individual islands of the Apostle group
received their names, and how the group came to be named
Apostle Islands.

H. E. HALE,
_Minneapolis, Minnesota_.

The collective name of Apostle Islands for the group off the coast of Chequamegon Bay is nearly two centuries old. The first map on which it appears is that of Bellin in 1744. This was founded on the information given by Father Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, a noted Jesuit missionary, who in 1721 visited the western country as an agent for the French government. Charlevoix did not go into Lake Superior in person, but at Sault Ste. Marie and Mackinac he made extensive inquiries of competent observers, and noted down the information given him by traders and officers from that region. Thus he, no doubt, learned that the islands were known to the French who frequented that place as “The Twelve Apostles,” and as such they appear on the map of Bellin that was issued in Charlevoix’s book published in Paris in 1744.

The first English traveler to note these islands was Jonathan Carver, who coasted the shore of Lake Superior in 1767 and on the map published in his volume of _Travels_ (London, 1778) repeats the name “Twelve Apostle Is.”

The first American travelers in that region were those who accompanied Lewis Cass, who in 1820 made an official voyage along the southern shore of Lake Superior. One of the members of this party was James D. Doty, who was afterwards territorial governor of Wisconsin. In Doty’s journal, published in _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XIII, 201, he says: “The Islands, called by Charlevoix ‘the 12 Apostles,’ extend about 20 miles from point Chegoiamegon.” Another member of the same party was Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, who later became Indian agent at Sault Ste. Marie, and married a half-breed Indian girl descended from the Chequamegon chiefs. Schoolcraft proposed to change the name of the Twelve Apostle Islands to Federation Islands. He assigned to the several islands the names of states of the Union, giving that of Virginia to Madelaine, the largest of the group. Schoolcraft’s proposal was not followed, but the present names of York and Michigan Islands seem to remain as part of Schoolcraft’s proposal. Apparently the early traders, counting the islands loosely, thought there were twelve in all, and since the mission was named Mission du Saint Esprit (or Holy Ghost Mission) the name of Twelve Apostles Islands seemed appropriate. There are (we believe) in reality nineteen, nevertheless the name, Apostle Islands, has persisted.

With regard to the several names of the separate islands: We have above accounted for York and Michigan. Outer Island explains itself, as do Ironwood, Oak, Basswood, Sand, Rocky, North and South Twin, Bear, Cat (Wild Cat, no doubt), and Otter. Raspberry Island takes its name from Raspberry River. This name was used in its French form _Rivière à la Framboise_ as early as 1804 (probably earlier). See _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XIX, 174. Devil Island and Manitou Island are both the same name. That is, the Indians called all supernatural beings “manitous.” Hermit Island and Stockton Island have probably some local significance from dwellers upon their area. We are not informed concerning them. Madelaine Island has been known by many names. Its present name is that of the wife of an early trader, Michel Cadotte. She was an Indian woman whose father was a local chief. Madelaine was the name she received when baptized. The island was frequently known as St. Michel, or St. Michael’s, from the given name of Cadotte, who was the principal trader on the island for many years. Its Indian name was Moningwanekaning, supposed to mean the Place of the Golden-breasted Woodpecker (hence, sometimes, Woodpecker Island). However, Father Chrysostom Verwyst, a Catholic missionary, now our best authority on Chippewa place names, defines it recently in _Acta et Dicta_ (July, 1916), published by the Catholic Historical Society of St. Paul, as “the place where there are many lapwings.” This island has also been called La Ronde, for a French commandant of the eighteenth century; La Pointe Island, from the name of the region La Pointe du Chequamegon; and Saint Esprit Island from the early Mission du St. Esprit mentioned above. It was also sometimes called Middle Island as lying midway between Sault Ste. Marie and Fort William, the fur-trade post on the northwest of Lake Superior. Sometimes it appears on maps as Montreal Island; the reason for this we do not know; perhaps it was the terminus of the trip from Montreal, Canada, or was so named because some of its inhabitants had been educated at Montreal.

To recapitulate: the largest island of the Apostle Group was first known as Moningwanekaning or Woodpecker or Lapwing; in the eighteenth century as La Ronde, La Pointe, and St. Esprit; was known to the fur traders as Middle and Montreal; was christened by Schoolcraft, Virginia; has been known since about 1800 as Cadotte’s, St. Michael’s, or Madelaine from its early inhabitants, and the baptismal name of the Indian woman has persisted.

THE SERVICES OF THE MENOMINEE IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR