THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL 
 
 AND 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 WISCONSIN; 
 
 WITH 
 
 SRIEF SKETCHES OF ITS HISTORY, GEOLOGY, MIN- 
 ERALOGY, NATURAL HISTORY, POPULATION, 
 SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, GOVERNMENT, 
 ANTIQUITIES, &c. &c. 
 
 BY I. A. LAPHAM. 
 
 MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: 
 PUBLISHED BY P. C. HALE. 
 
 1844.
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1944, by 
 
 IiXCREASE A LAPHAM, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court, in the Third Judicial 
 District of the Territory of Wisconsin. 
 
 COURIER PRINT.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This work is now given to the public with the hope not only 
 of furnishing the thousands of new comers, who are annually 
 flocking to our Territory, and to others, in a cheap and conven- 
 ient form, a large amount of useful information, which it would 
 be difficult for them to obtain from any other source ; but also 
 to preserve for the future historian many interesting facts which 
 might otherwise soon be forgotten and lost. The aiithor is fully 
 sensible of its defects and omissions, but hopes that due allow- 
 ance will be made, when it is considered that this is the first at- 
 tempt of the kind relative to a country more than twice the ex- 
 tent of the great State of New-York, which has been made 
 pubhc. Many parts of the country are but thinly peopled, and 
 but little communication exist between them and other settle- 
 ments, so that it is difficult to ascertain what are their extent, 
 population, improvements, &c. New settlements are commenced 
 almost evury day, and soon grow into important places witliout 
 any notice being taken of them by the public. Towns and villa- 
 ges spring up so rapidly that one has to " keep a sharp look out" 
 to be informed even of their names and location, to say nothing 
 about their population, trade, buildings, &c. Th3 building of a 
 to'vn has in a great degree ceased to be a matter of much interest 
 — as much so as an earthquake formerl^did in some parts of 
 iSIissouri, where a traveller having stopped at a log cabin, was 
 much concerned to hear the dishes begin to rattle on the shelves, 
 and make a disagreeable kind of music, at which the chairs and 
 
 i<j-C 

 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 Other furnitiii-c set up an unnatural and very alarrriing kind of 
 dance' The good lady of the house attempted to allay his fears 
 by saying, "Don't be afraid, Sir ! —it's only an 'arthquake! !' 
 Hence it may be expected that some towns are not as fully no- 
 ticed in this work as their importance would seem to deserve ; and 
 others even entirely omitted. As it is probable, however, that a 
 new edition mar soon be called for, it is hoped that such infor- 
 mation may be furnished a* will enable the author then to do 
 ample justice to all portions of the Territory. 
 
 It is proper to add here, that the author has made free use ot 
 such publications as he could find, containing any thing to suit 
 his purpose — whether in books, magazines, or newspapers; but 
 has been careful to admit nothing unless entitled to the fullest 
 credit. 
 
 Milwaukee, January, 1844.
 
 WISCONSIN, &c. 
 
 The Territory of Wisconsin, as established at 
 present, is bounded as follows : commencing in the 
 middle of Lake Michigan, in north latitude forty-two 
 degrees and thirty -minutes ; thence north along the 
 middle of the Lake to a point opposite the main chan- 
 nel or entrance of Green Bay ; thence through said 
 channel and Green Bay to the mouth of the Menom- 
 onee river; thence through the middle of the main 
 channel of said river to that head nearest the Lake of 
 the Desert: thence in a direct line to the middle of 
 said Lake : thence through the middle of the main 
 channel of the Montreal river to its mouth ; thence 
 with a direct line across Lake Superior to where the 
 Territorial line of the United States last touches said 
 Lake northwest ; thence along said Territorial line to 
 a point due north of the head waters or source of the 
 Mississippi river, supposed to be in longitude ninety- 
 six degrees and two minutes west from Greenwich : 
 thence due south to the head waters of the Mississippi : 
 thence along the middle or centre of the main channel 
 of said river to latitude forty two degrees and thirty 
 minutes north ; thence due east to the place of begin- 
 ning. It therefore embraces all that portion of the
 
 U BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. 
 
 United Slates lying between the State of Michigan on 
 the east, and the Mississippi on the west, which sepa- 
 rates it from the Territory of Iowa ; and between the 
 State of Illinois on the south and the British posses- 
 sions on the north; extending from forty-two and a half, 
 to the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, and embra- 
 cing about ten degrees of longitude. Taking the 
 length of a degree of latitude and longitude in this 
 part of the globe, it is ascertained that Wisconsin is 
 about five hundred and fifteen miles from east to west, 
 and four hundred and forty-nine miles from north to 
 south, measuring from the extreme points. But the 
 average or mean extent of the Territory in longitude 
 is only about four and one-third degrees, or two hun- 
 dred and six or seven miles, showing a superficial area 
 of about ninety-three thousand square miJes or sections, 
 or nearly twenty-six hundred townships of six miles 
 square each. Wisconsin is, therefore, more than one-half 
 larger than Virginia, (the largest state in the Union,) 
 and more than twice as large as the State of New- 
 York. This calculation, however, is only an approx- 
 imation to the truth, for so little is accurately known 
 of the course of the JVIenomonep, Montreal, and a part 
 of the Mississippi rivers, that no accurate estimate can 
 be made of the extent of territory embraced within the 
 limits of W^isconsin. The Menomonee has been as- 
 certained to have a course very different from what 
 was supposed, at the time it was selected as a part of 
 the boundary ; and a revision of that portion of the 
 boundary between Michigan and Wisconsin which lies 
 between Green Bay and Lake Superior becomes ne-
 
 DISPUTED BOUNDAUlErf. ( 
 
 viessarv; and will probably'' soon receive the action ot 
 Congress. A survey was made in 1840 and 1841, by 
 Captain Cram, and it now only remains for Congress 
 to decide upon the exact boundary. The Wasecota, a 
 branch of the Menomonee, is ascertained to have its 
 source nearest the Lake of the Desert, and will there- 
 fore probably be established as part of the boundary. 
 
 Wisconsin being a part of the •• Territory of the 
 United States northwest of the Ohio river," claims, and 
 indeed, Congress has by direct action, confirmed to 
 her* all the rights and privileges secured by the ordi- 
 nance of Congress of July 13, 1787, one of which is, 
 '•that Congress shall have authority to form one or 
 two States in that part of said territory which lies north 
 of an east and west line drawn through the southerly 
 bend or extreme of Lake Michigan"; thereby fixing 
 unalterably (without common consent) the southern 
 boundaries of Michigan and Wisconsin. Notwith- 
 standing this plain provision of the ordinance, which is 
 declared to be "articles of compact between the original 
 States, and the people and States in the said territory, 
 and forever to remain unalterable unless by common 
 consent," yet Congress in establishing the boundaries 
 of the State of Illinois, extended that State about sixty 
 miles north of the line thus unalterably established by 
 
 *In the act establishing the Territory of Wisconsin, section 
 twelve, where it is expressly declared ''that the inhabitants of 
 the said Territory shall be entitled to enjoy, all and singular the 
 rights and advantages cranted and secured to the people of the 
 territory of the UniTed .States northwest of the Ohio river by the 
 articles of compact contained in the ordinance for tlie governuient 
 of the said Territory, passed on the thirteenih day of July. ' n. 
 thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven."
 
 S DISPUTED BOUNDARIES. 
 
 the ordinance. This is claimed to be obviously unjust 
 and contrary to the spirit and letter of the conipact with 
 the original States. The subject of reclaiming this 
 portion of our territory has been agitated in the Legis- 
 lative Assembly, and it is probable that Wisconsin 
 will insist upon her rights when she is admitted into 
 the Union as an independent State. Michigan was 
 compelhu 'ij\f superior influence to submit to a com- 
 promise by which she obtained, besides other valuable 
 considerations, a much larger portion of territory than 
 that in dispute : and Wisconsin may from the same 
 cause be obliged to submit to wrong for want of ability 
 to enforce her rights. 
 
 It is also contended by many that the portion oi 
 country set off to Michigan on Lake Superior, between 
 ihe straits of Mackina and the Montreal river, as a 
 compensation in part, for ihe strip of land given to 
 Ohio from her southern border, should also have con- 
 stituted a portion of Wisconsin; and especially as Michi- 
 gan never made the least claim to it, and as the con- 
 venience of the inhabitants (when it becomes inhabited) 
 will be best consulted by uniting them with Wisconsin. 
 The validity of our claim to this territory however, may- 
 be questioned : for it cannot be made out as clearly as 
 in the case of the territory given to Illinois. 
 
 The ditiiculties which it has been apprehended 
 might at some future time arise between the United 
 States and Great Britain relative to that portion of our 
 northern boundary lying between Lake Superior and 
 the Lake of the Woods, have been prevented by the 
 ••^ctllomcnt of that question in the treaty of 18'12, usually
 
 TOPOGRAFHY. 9 
 
 known as •• Webster's Treaty." Great Britain claimed 
 all that portion of our Territory lying north of the St. 
 Louis river, while we claimed that the Kamanistaquia, 
 or Dog river should be the boundary. By the treaty, 
 an intermediate route was agreed upon: and here again 
 it is contended that the general government has given 
 away a portion of the territory which should properly 
 have belonged to Wisconsin. 
 
 It is not probable that Illinois, Michigan, and Great 
 Britain will be very ready to surrender the territory 
 now claimed by them, and hence it becomes an impor- 
 tant question to determine in what manner these dis- 
 putes shall be settled. As in all cases of a similar na- 
 ture, we may expect some difficulties to arise. It has 
 been proposed in the Legislature to abandon all claims 
 of this kind, upon condition that Congress shall con- 
 struct certain works of internal improvement which 
 are at present very much needed : and if the whole 
 subject can be thus easily disposed of, it is undoubtedly 
 the best policy for the United States to accept of this 
 very reasonable compromise. 
 
 It is to be hoped that these questions of boundary 
 may be settled to the satisfaction of all concerned, 
 before they become of such importance as to create 
 much excitement, trouble or difficulty in their adjust- 
 ment. 
 
 There are no mountains, properlv speaking, in 
 Wisconsin ; the whole being one vast plain, varied 
 only by the river hills, and the gentle swells or un- 
 dulations of country usually denominated '-rolling.*'
 
 10 TOPOGRAPIIV. 
 
 This plain lies at an elevation of from six to fifteen 
 hundred icet above the level of the ocean. The high- 
 est lands are those forming the dividing ridge between 
 the waters of Lake Superior and the Mississippi- 
 From this ridge there is a gradual descent towards 
 the south and southwest. This inclination is inter- 
 rupted in the region of the lower Wisconsin and Nec- 
 nah rivers, where we find another ridge extending 
 across the Territory, from which proceeds another 
 gently descending slope, drained mostly by the waters 
 of Reck river an^ its branches. These slopes indi- 
 cate, and are occasioned by the dip or inclination of the 
 rocky strata beneath the soil. The Wisconsin hills 
 and many of the bluffs along the Mississippi river, 
 often attain the height of three hundred feet above their 
 base, and the Blue Mound was ascertained by Dr. 
 Locke, by barometrical observations, to be one thou- 
 sand feet above the Wisconsin river at Helena. The 
 surface is further diversified by the Platte and Sinsin- 
 awa Mounds, but these prominent elevations are so 
 rare that they form very marked objects in the land- 
 scape, and serve the traveller in the unsettled portions 
 of the country, as guides by which to direct his course. 
 The country immediately bordering on Lake Superior, 
 has a very abrupt descent towards the lake ; hence the 
 streams entering that lake are full of rapids and water- 
 falls, being comparatively worthless for all purposes 
 of navigation, but affording a vast superabundance of 
 water power, which may at some future time be 
 brought into lequisition to manufacture lumber from 
 the immense quantities of pine trees with which this 
 part of the Territory abounds.
 
 LAKES. 1 I 
 
 There is another viJge of very broken land running 
 from the entrance of Green Bay in a southwesterly 
 direction, forming the "divide" between the waters of 
 Lake Michigan and those running into the Bay and 
 Neenah, and continuing thence through the western 
 part of Washington county, crossing Bark river near 
 the Nagowioka lake, and thence passing in the same 
 general direction, through Walworth county into the 
 State of Illinois. The very irregular and broken ap- 
 pearance of this ridge is probably owing to the soft 
 and easily decomposed limestone rock of which it is 
 composed. 
 
 Cn our northern border is Lake Superior, the lar- 
 gest body of fresh water in the world, and on the east 
 is Lake Michigan, second only to Lake Superior in 
 magnitude, forming links in the great chain of inland 
 seas by which we are connected with the '• lower coun- 
 try" by a navigation as important for all purposes of 
 commerce as the ocean itself Besides these immense 
 lakes, Wisconsin abounds in those of smaller size, 
 scattered profusely over her whole surface. They are 
 from one to twenty or thirty miles in extent. Many of 
 them are the most beautiful that can be imagined — the 
 water deep and of crystal clearness and purity, sur- 
 rounded by sloping hills and promontories covered 
 with scattered groves and clumps of trees. Some are 
 of a more picturesque kind, being more rugged in 
 their appearance, with steep, rocky bluffs, crowned 
 with cedar, hemlock, spruce and other evergreen trees 
 of a similar character. Perhaps a small rocky island.
 
 12 LAKES. 
 
 will var)^ iho scene, covered with a conical mass ol 
 vegetation, the low shrubs and bushes being arranged 
 around the margin, and the tall trees in the centre. 
 These lakes usually abound in fish of various kinds, 
 afTording food for the pioneer settler ; and among the 
 pebbles on their shores may occasionally be found fine 
 specimens of agate, carnelion, and other precious 
 stones. In the bays where the water is shallow and 
 but little affected by the winds, the wild rice {Zizania 
 aqiiatica) grows in abundance, affording subsistence 
 for the Indian, and attracting innumerable water birds 
 to these lakes. The rice has never been made use of 
 by the settlers in Wisconsin as an article of food, al- 
 though at some places it affords one of the principal 
 means of support for the red men. It is said to be 
 about equal to oat-meal in its qualities, and resembles 
 it in some degree in taste. The difficulty of collecting 
 it, and its inferior quality, will always prevent its use 
 by white men, except in cases of extreme necessity. 
 The Lake of the Woods, and Rainy Lake, near our 
 north boundary, have been so often described as to 
 need only to be mentioned here. Their thousand 
 small wooded islands give them a peculiarly interest- 
 ing and picturesque character not to be found in any 
 other scenery in the world. Among the small lakes 
 may be mentioned Lake Winnebago, St. Croix, (upper 
 and lower,) Cass Lake, Lake Pepin, the Four Lakes, 
 the Mille Lac, Ottawa, Pewaugan, Pewaukee, Geneva, 
 Green, Koshkonong, and many others, all more fully 
 described in another pait of this work.
 
 RIVERS. lo 
 
 The Mississippi, the great river of rivers, forms, 
 as before remarked, the western boundary of Wiscon- 
 sin. It is augmented in this Territory by the waters 
 of the Wisconsin, Black, Chippewa, St. Croix and St. 
 Francis rivers, which alone would be sufficient to form 
 a very respectable " Father of W^aters," but which do 
 not perceptibly swell the mighty flood of the Missis- 
 sippi: these with Rock river, which empties into the 
 Mississippi in Illinois, and the St. Louis, Bois Brule. 
 Mauvaise and Montreal rivers, tributaries of Lake Su- 
 perior : and the Menomonee, Fox or Neenah, Wolf 
 and Milwaukee rivers, tributaries of Lake Michigan, 
 aie the principal rivers in Wisconsin. Innumerable 
 smaller streams and branches run through the whole 
 extent of the Territory, so that no portion of it is with- 
 out an abundant supply of good, and generally pure 
 w^ater. The Mississippi is navigable as for up as the 
 Falls of St. Anthon}^ The Wisconsin is navigable 
 as far up as the Portage by small steamboats, at certain 
 seasons of the year ; and they have been up Rock river 
 as far as Aztalan, in Jefferson county, but these streams 
 are comparatively of little value for the purposes of 
 navigation. All the principal rivers are, however = 
 navigable for canoes. Their waters usually originate 
 in springs and lakes of pure and cold water. Many 
 of them, especially in the northern or primitive region, 
 are precipitated over rocky barriers, forming beautiful 
 cascades or rapids, and affording valuable sites for 
 mills and manufactories of all kinds. The Falls of 
 St. Anthony, on the Mississippi, seven miles above the 
 mouth of the St. Peters, are only surpassed by the
 
 14 ANTKiUITIES. 
 
 great Niagara, in picturesque beauty and grandeur; 
 and are now becoming a place of fashionable resort for 
 summer tourists. 
 
 The rivers running into the Mississippi take their 
 rise in the vicinity of the sources of those running into 
 the lakes, and they often originate in the same lake 
 or swamp, so that the communication trom the Missis- 
 sippi to the lakes is rendered comparatively easy at 
 various points. The greatest depression in the divi- 
 ding ridge in the Territory is supposed to be at Fort 
 Winnebago, where the Wisconsin river approaches 
 within half a mile of the Neenah, and where, at times 
 of high water, canoes have actually passed across from 
 one stream to the other. Some of the rivers are sup- 
 plied from the tamarack swamps, from which the water 
 takes a dark color. 
 
 Wisconsin does not fall behind the other portions 
 of the western country in the monuments it affords of 
 the existence of an ancient people who once inhabited 
 North America, but of whom nothing is known except 
 what can be gathered from some of the results of their 
 labo:s. The works at Aztalan, in Jefferson county, 
 are most known and visited, but there are many other 
 localities which are said to equal them in interest and 
 importance. The substance called brick at this place, 
 is evidently burned clay, showing marks of having 
 been mixed with straw, but they were not moulded 
 into regular forms. There is a class of ancient earth- 
 works in Wisconsin, not before found in any other 
 country, being made to represent quadrupeds, birds,
 
 ANTIQUITIES. 15 
 
 reptiles, and even the human form. These representa- 
 tions are rather rude, and it is often difficult to decide 
 for what species of animal they are intended ; but the 
 effects of time may have modified their appearance 
 very much since they were originally formed. Some 
 have a resemblance to the buffalo, the eagle, or crane, 
 or to the turtle or lizard. One representing the human 
 form, near the Blue Mounds, is, according to R. C. 
 Taylor, Esq., one hundred and twenty feet in length ; 
 it lies in nn east and west direction, the head toward 
 the west, with the arms and legs extended. The body 
 or trunk is thirty feet in breadth, the head twenty-five, 
 audits elevation above the general surface of the prairie 
 is s.bout six feet. Its conformation is so distinct that 
 there can be no possibility of mistake in assigning it 
 to the human figure.* A mound at Prairieville, rep- 
 resenting a turtle, is about five feet high ; the body is 
 fifty-six ft et in length ; it represents the animal with 
 its legs extended, and its feet turned backwards. It is 
 to be regretted that this interesting mound is now 
 nearly destroyed. The ancient works are found all 
 over the Territory, but are most abundant at Aztalan, 
 on Rock river, near the Blue Mounds, along the Wis- 
 consin, the Neenah and the Pishtaka rivers, and near 
 Lake Winnebago. 
 
 The mounds are generally scattered about without 
 any apparent order or arrangement, but are occasion- 
 
 * The reader is referred to the " Notice of Indian Mounds, &c. 
 in Wisconsin," in SiUiman's Journal, vol. 34, p. 88, by R. C. 
 Taylor; and to the " Description of Ancient Rerriains in Wiscon- 
 sin,"' by S. Taylor, vol. 44, p. 21, of the same work, for more 
 detailed descriptions and drawings of these interesting "anuiiai 
 mounds."
 
 IG EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 ally arranged in irregular rows, the animals appearing- 
 as if drawn up in a line of nriarch. An instance ot 
 this kind is seen near the road seven miles east from 
 the Blue Mounds, in Iowa county. At one place near 
 the Four Lakes, it is said that one hundred tumuli, of 
 various shapes and dimensions, may be counted — 
 those representing animals being among others that 
 are round or oblong. 
 
 Fragments of ancient pottery of a very rude kind, 
 are often found in various localities. They were form- 
 ed by hand, or moulded, as their appearance show evi- 
 dently that these vessels were not turned on a " potter's 
 wheel" Parts of the rim of vessels usually ornamen- 
 ted with small notches or figures, are most abundant. 
 
 A mound is said to have been discovered near Gass- 
 ville, on the Mississippi, which is supposed to repre- 
 sent an animal having a trunk like the elephant, or the 
 now extinct Mastodon. Should this prove true, it will 
 show that the people who made these animal earth- 
 works, were cotemporaries with that huge monster 
 whose bones are still occasionally found ; or that they 
 had then but recently emigrated from Asia, and had 
 not lost their knowledge of the elephant. 
 
 The first settlement of Wisconsin may be dated as 
 far back as 1670, when Green Bay was first occu- 
 pied by French fur traders, thirteen years before 
 Philadelphia was founded by William Pciin, and two 
 years before the first settlement of Charleston, South 
 Carolina. Three years after these enterprising and 
 enthusiastic Frenchmen had established themselves at
 
 EARLY HISTORY. 17 
 
 "the Bay of Puans, now Green Bay, (1&73.) Father 
 Joseph Marquette, accompanied by Joliet, went up the 
 -Neenah (Fox) river, crossed the portage, and descend- 
 ing the Wisconsin, discovered the Mississippi on the 
 17th of June.* The Legislature iias very properly 
 named a county on the Neenah in memory of the 
 first white man who ever saw the " Father of Waters" 
 in this part of its course. Tt was six years after this 
 discovery v/as made before La Salle made his voyage 
 up the lakes in the first vessel (the Griffin) buik above 
 the Falls of Niagara, and who claimed the honor of 
 having first discovered the Mississippi. An interesting' 
 account of this voyage was published by Louis Henne- 
 pin, in Paris, and is preserved in the Transactions 
 of the American Antiquarian Society. The Griffin 
 v/as of abcur sixty tons burden, and carried five small 
 guns. She sailed on the 7th of August, 1679, with 
 thirty foar men, and on the 2d of September, they left 
 Maokina, for the Bay of Puans. '• Mr. La Salle,"' 
 says Hennepin, '-without taking any body's advice, 
 -resolved to send back the ship to Niagara, laden with 
 ^furs and skins, to discharge his debts. Our pilot, and 
 five men with him, wore therefore sent back. They 
 sailed on the 18th, with a westerly wind. It was 
 never known wdiat course they steereJ, nor how they 
 perished, but it is supposed the ship struck upon the 
 sand, and was there buried. This was a great loss to 
 Mr. La Salle, and other adventurers, for that ship, 
 with its cargo, cost about sixty thousand livres." Thus 
 
 * Marquette was not the^rs^ discoverer of the Mississippi— 
 that honor belonss to Hernando de Sato, who crossed it in 1511 
 iSce Bancroft's Hist. U. iS., i. p. 51.
 
 18 EARLY HISTORV. 
 
 ihe want of harbors on Like Michig-an, began to ha 
 felt more than a century and a half ago, and the fate 
 of the Grilfin was only a prGcursov of a thousand sim- 
 ilar disasters. 
 
 The adventurers continued their voya!?c in four 
 canoes, along the coast oi: the lake by Milwaukee, to 
 '•the mouth of the river of the Miamis," (Chicago?) 
 where a fort was erected. During this voyage, they 
 experienced one of those STvere storms which are still 
 so much dreaded on this lake. " The violence of tli:e 
 wind obliged us to drag our canoes sometimes to the 
 top ot the rocks, to prevent their being dashed to pie- 
 ces. The stormy weather las'ed four days, during 
 which we suffered very much, and our provisions failed 
 us ; we had no other subsistence but a handful of In- 
 dian corn, once in twenty-four hours, which we roasted 
 or else boiled in water ; and yet rowed almost every 
 day from morning till night. Being in this dismai 
 stress, we saw upon the coast a great many ravens and 
 eagles, from whence we conjectured there v/as some 
 prey, and having landed upon that place, we found 
 above the half of a fat wild goat which the wolves had 
 strangled. This provision was very acceptable to us, 
 and the rudest of our men could not but praise the 
 Divine Providence who took so particular care of us. 
 
 From this place La Salle returned, and Hennepin 
 with two men (Picard and Ako) crossed over to the 
 Illinois, and descended that stream and the Mississippi, 
 to the Gulf of Mexico, being thus the fiist to discover 
 the mouth of that mighty river. While returning, 
 they were taken by a party of Indians, and travcllMl
 
 EARLY HISTORY. 19 
 
 with them nineteen days up the Mississippi to within 
 six leagues of the Falls of St. Anthony, a name then 
 first applied to this romantic place in honor of the 
 patron saint of the expedition. From thence they 
 travelled for sixty leagues, on foot, to the habitations 
 of the Indians, where they were joined by Sienr de 
 Luth, and five men. Towards the end of September, 
 (1680) they descended the river named by them the St. 
 Francis, to the Mississippi, and passing by way of the 
 Wisconsin and Fox rivers, arrived at Green Bay, 
 where they found many Canadians, come there for 
 the purpose of trade. 
 
 We have no data at hand from which to estimate 
 the quantities of furs purchased by the French at this 
 early period, and sent to Europe. This constituted al- 
 most the sole motive for •' locating" in these wild, and 
 till then, unknown shores. The French are possessed 
 of the peculiar faculty of making themselves ^'at home" 
 with the Indians, and lived without that dread of their 
 tomahawks which is so keenly felt by the pioneers of 
 English settlements. They were not able, however, to 
 maintain friendlj'- terms with all the different tribes into 
 which the Indian population was divided, for before the 
 close of tJiC seventeenth century, we find them united 
 with the Chippewas and Menomonees, contending with 
 the Sauks and Foxes for a free passage across the 
 country from Green Bay to the Mississippi, in which 
 'they met with complete success, by a decisive battle 
 'fought at Butte des Morts, or the Hill of the Dead. 
 "The Ottagamies (Foxes) had selected a strong posi- 
 tion upon the Fox river, which they fortified by throe
 
 "ZV EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 rows of palisades and a ditch. They here secured 
 their women and children, and* prepared for a vigorous 
 defence. Their entrenchment was so formidable that 
 De Louvigiiy, the French commander, declined an 
 assault, and invested the place in form. By regular 
 approaches he gained a proper distance for mining 
 their works, and was preparing to blo-,v up one of the 
 curtains, when they proposed a capitulation. Terms 
 were eventually offered and accepted : and those who 
 survived the siege were preserved and liberated.* No 
 further difficulties existed between the French traders 
 and missionaries, and the Indians, from that period 
 down to the present time. How different would it 
 probably have been, had almost any other nation at- 
 tempted to penetrate so far into the country of these 
 " wild men of the woods"! 
 
 Wisconsin remained in possession of the French, 
 and constituted a portion of" New France," until 1759, 
 when it was surrendered to Great Britain, and became 
 subject to her government. This change of govern- 
 ment, it may be supposed, produced but little change 
 in the condition of things in places so remote from the 
 seat of government. Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, 
 were then the only posts occupied within our limits. 
 British authority was exercised over us from this peri- 
 od until the northwestern country was transferred to 
 the American government, in 1794, being seven years 
 after the date of the ordinance for the establishment of 
 a '• Territorial Government" in the same, Durinsf 
 
 * Cass— Hist, and Sci. Sketches of Michigan, p. 22, (1S34.)
 
 CASS EXPEDITION*. 21 
 
 this period of thirty-five years, but little change took 
 place in Wisconsin — the Indian continued to hunt the 
 deer, and to trap the beaver unmolested, and bartered 
 his furs at Green Bay, or Mackina, for the trifles, or 
 ^•firewater' of the trader. As early, however, ss 
 1780, Peosta, the wife of an Ottagamie warrior, discov- 
 ered lead near the Mississippi river ; and in 1788, Ju» 
 Man Dubuque, obtained from the Indians at Prairie du 
 Chien. a grant of land, extending seven leagues on the 
 Mississippi, and three leagues deep. This grant was 
 recognised by the Spanish government in 1796, but 
 was not confirmed by our own. For several years 
 the mining operations were quite limited, as may well 
 be supposed ; and in 1805, Mr. Dubuque informed 
 Lieut. Pike that he raised from twenty to forty thou- 
 sand pounds annually. Schoolcraft informs us that 
 the settlement of Prairie du Chien was first begun in 
 1783, by Mr. Giard. Mr. Antaya and Mr. Dubuque, 
 but that there had formerly been an old settlement 
 about a mile below the site of the present village, 
 which existed during the lime the French had posses- 
 sion of the country. 
 
 Governor Cass, in 1819, one year after this country 
 was annexed to the teriitory under his authority, pro- 
 posed to the Secretary at War, (.Fohn C. Calhoun) that 
 an expedition be fitted out to explore it, which was ac- 
 complished the following year. The party consisted 
 of Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory : Dr- 
 Alexander Wolcoot, physician ; Capt. D. B. Douglass, 
 civil and military engineer ; Lieut, .'Eneas Mackav,
 
 22 
 
 commandinnr the soldiers : James D. Doty, secretary to 
 the expedition ; Robert A. Forsyth, Charles C. Trow- 
 bridge, Alexander R. Chase, and Henry R. School- 
 craft, mineralogist, whose " Narrative 'Journal," pub- 
 lished in 1821. is replete with valuable information 
 relative to this country. From this work we learn 
 that Wisconsin was even then but little more than the 
 abode of a few Indian traders scattered here and there 
 throughout the Territory, as at Lapointe, Fond du Lac 
 — on the Bois Brule— the xSt. Croix — Sandy Lake — 
 Leech Lake — Milwaukee — and many other points. 
 These posts were usually protected by a stockade, on- 
 closing, perhaps, a hundred feet square: that at Sandy 
 Lake had bastions at two of its angles pierced for mus- 
 ketry. '• The pickets were of pitch-pine, thirteen feet 
 above the ground, a foot square, and pinned together 
 with stout plates of the same wood. There were three 
 gates, which are shut whenever liquor was dealt out to 
 the Indians. The stockade enclosed two rows of 
 buildings, containing the provision store, work-shop, 
 ware-house, rooms for the clerks, and accommoda- 
 tions for the men. On the west and southwest angles 
 of the fort were four acres of ground enclosed with 
 pickets, and devoted to the culture of potatoes." This 
 fort was first erected in 1794, by the Northwest Fur 
 Company. The garrisons at Prairie du Chien and at 
 the mouth of the St. Peters, were first established and 
 occupied in 1819. 
 
 At this time but little Avas known of the value of the 
 lead and copper mines on the upper Mississippi — only 
 three places being known besides the Dubuque mines,
 
 AviscoNSiN IN 18:20. '^3 
 
 where lead could be obtained, and these were worL'cd 
 ■exclusively by the \Yomen of the Fox Indians, assisted 
 perhaps by the old men— the young men and warriors 
 holding themselves above it. '• They employ the hoc, 
 ■shovel, pick axe and crow bar, in taking up the ore. 
 These things are supplied by the traders, but no shafts 
 are sunk, not even of the simplest kind, and the wind- 
 lass and the bucket are unknown among them. They 
 run drifts into the hill so far as they can conveniently 
 go, without the use of gunpowder, and if a trench eaves 
 in, it is abandoned. "VV'hen a quantity of ore has been 
 got out, it is carried in baskets by the women to the 
 Mississippi, where it is purchased by the traders, at the 
 rate of two dollars for a hundred and twenty pounds, 
 payable in goods at Indian prices." The settlement at 
 Green Bay is mentioned by Schoolcraft, upon his ap- 
 proach down the Fox river, as a country of exceeding 
 beauty, '-checkered as it is with faim houses, fences- 
 cultivated fields, the broad expanse of the river, the 
 bannered masts of the vessels in the distant bay, and 
 the warlike displaj^ of military barracks, camps and 
 parades. The scene burst suddenly into view, and no 
 combination of objects in the physiognomy of a country 
 could be more happily. arranged, after so long a so- 
 journment in the wilderness, to recall at once to the 
 imagination the most pleasing recollections of civilized 
 life. The settlement now consists of sixty dwellinfr 
 houses, and five hundred inhabitants, exclusive of the 
 garrison. They are, with few exceptions, French, 
 who have intermarried with Indian women, and are 
 said to be indolent, gay. intemperate and illiterate.
 
 24' long's expeditiox. 
 
 They arc represented to have been subservient to the- 
 interests of the British, during the late war. This set- 
 tlement is now the seat of justice for Brown county, in 
 the Territory of Michigan, and the ordinary courts of 
 law are established." Prairie du Chien contained a 
 similar popuulation, of about five hundred, occupying 
 about eighty buildings, the jn-incipal part of which 
 were of logs, arranged in two streets, parallel w^ith the 
 river. On the 26th. of August, the party encamped at 
 the mouth of the Milwaukee river,, where they found: 
 '•two American families, and a village of Pottowato- 
 rnies: itjs the division line between the lands of the 
 Menomonecs and the Potto Vv^atomies ; the latter claim 
 all south of it."' At the portage between the Wiscon- 
 sin and Fox rivers, they found '- a good waggon road',, 
 and a Frenchman lives on the spot, who keeps a num- 
 ber of horses and cattle, for the transportation of bag- 
 gage, for which twenty-five cents per hundred weight 
 is demanded.'^ 
 
 In 1823, Major Long commanded a party, on an 
 expedition similar to that of Governor Cass, that tra- 
 versed the country from Chicago to Prairie du Chien. 
 where they found only about one hundred and fifty 
 souls. From thence they went.up the Mississippi and 
 the St. Peters, and back by the north shore of Lake 
 Superior. 
 
 In 1832, another expedition passed through the 
 country, under the direction of Schoolcraft, and from 
 his pen we have a volume published in 1834, being a 
 '• Narrative of an expedition through the upper Mis- 
 sissippi to Itasca lake, the actual source of that river."
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 25 
 
 The Sauk war. \v hie h broke out this year (1832.) 
 perhaps did more than any thing else to turn the atten- 
 tion of emigrants and others to this country, by brinn-- 
 ing it into notice. It is not proposed here to enter into 
 cfetails concerning this Indian disturbance, having but 
 little to add to what has already been published upon 
 the subject. 
 
 Soon after these troubles were ended, the lands were 
 surveyed, by order of the Government, and not till then 
 was commenced that rapid settlement of the country 
 which has now filled it with a population of at least a 
 
 HUNDRED THOUSAND SOULS. 
 
 Since this country became a portion of the United 
 States, Wisconsin has successively been under the o-ov- 
 ernment of Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michi- 
 gan. The territory once belonged to Virginia, or at 
 Jeast she has now the full credit of having ceded it, 
 together with all the " territory northwest of the Ohio 
 river" to the United States. Up to the year 1800, Wis- 
 consin was under the authority of the Teriitorial Gov- 
 ernment established in Ohio. In that year she was 
 attached to "Indiana Territory,'' aiKl remained so until 
 1809, when the "Illinois Territory"' was organised, 
 extending north to Lake Superior, and of course inclu- 
 ding Wisconsin. When Illinois took her place in the 
 Union, in 1818, our Territory was finally attached to 
 Michigan, and remained so until the organization of 
 the present Territorial Government, in 183G. 
 
 We sec, therefore, that within the space of one hun- 
 dred and sixty-six years, Wisconsin has been succes- 
 sively ruled by two kings, one State, and four Territo-
 
 35 
 
 
 ), 6 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 166 
 
 years. 
 
 2G INDIANS. 
 
 ries, and \vc have finally set up for ourselves, without 
 any great and exciting- events to produce these revolu- 
 tions. The people have submitted to each change with- 
 out a struggle or a murniur. They have been under the 
 government of France from 1670 to 1759, or 89 years. 
 
 Of Crreat Britain, from 1759 to 1794, 
 
 Of Virginia and Ohio, from 1794 to 1800, 
 
 Of Indiana, from 1800 to 1809, 
 
 Of Illinois, from 1809 to 1818, - 
 
 Of Michigan, from 1818 to 1836, 
 
 Total, 
 
 In the more settled portions of the Territory, but 
 few Indians are now to be found ; most of them having 
 removed to the north, or to the west side of the Missis- 
 sippi. Occasionally a band of Menomonees take up 
 their winter quarters on the head branches of Rock 
 river, and other places, and bring their peltries to Mil- 
 waukee for sale. The Chippewas are the most nu- 
 merous, occupying the cpuntry bordering on Lake Su- 
 perior, and about the source of the Mississippi. The 
 Sioux or Dacotas, whose country lies principally on 
 the west side of the Mississippi, occasionally cross that 
 stream and occupy a portion of our Territory at the 
 north. These, with a few Winnebagos, and an occa- 
 sional Pottowatomie, make up the tribes of Indians 
 occupying or inhabiting Wisconsin. The Stockbridge 
 and Brothertown Indians, on the cast side of Lake 
 Winnebago, and the Oneidas, a few miles west of 
 Green Bay, emigrated from New-York about the year
 
 INDIANS. 27 
 
 like the whites than like the wild Indian. They are 
 sober, honest, and industrious farmers, and occupv 
 fixed places of above. 
 
 The Brothertowns have been admitted to all the 
 rights and privileges of citizens of the United States — 
 and the Stockbridges are taking the necessarj- meas- 
 ures to secure to themselves the same advantages. A 
 great number of them arc, however, opposed to this 
 measure. 
 
 The Chippewas and Sioux are at enmity with each 
 other, and have been, (notwithstanding all the efforts 
 made to reconcile them) as long as they .have been 
 known by white men. Their deadly hatred will proba- 
 bly become satisfied only by the entire extermination of 
 one of these powerful and warlike tribes. The war- 
 riors on both sides are distinguished for many acts of 
 daring bravery. In two battles fought in the summer 
 of 1839, between these tribes, it is estimated that two 
 hundred Indians, mostly of the Chippewas, were 
 killed. 
 
 The Indians have, by various treaties, ceded to the 
 United States all their lands in "Wisconsin, except a 
 portion lying between the west end of Lake Superior 
 and the head waters of the Mississippi. This, there- 
 fore, is all that now remains in possession of the ori- 
 ginal owners — the Indians. 
 
 The C4ovERXOR is appointed for three years, by the 
 President of the United Stales, by and with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate. He is, cx-ojicio. Superin-
 
 28 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 lendcnt of Indian affairs within the Territory ; and liis 
 salary is two thousand five hundred dollars per annum, 
 —paid by the General Government. The Gover- 
 nor is required, by the " organic law" establishing 
 the Territorial Government, to reside within the Ter- 
 ritory : is commander-in-chief of the militia ; and has 
 the power of vetoing the acts of the Legislature. He 
 may at any time be removed by the President of the 
 United States ; is required to commission all officers 
 under the laws of the Territory ; and it is his duty to 
 take care that the laws are faithfully executed. 
 
 The Secretary is appointed in like manner, and 
 holds his office for four years, unless sooner removed 
 by the President of the United States. It is his duty 
 to record and preserve all the laws and proceedings 
 of the Legislative Assembly, all the acts and proceed- 
 ings of the Governor in his executive department ; to 
 transmit one copy of the laws and one copy of the ex- 
 ecutive proceedings to the President of the United 
 States, and at the same time two copies of the laws to 
 the Speaker of the House of Representatives. He is 
 authorised to act as Governor, in case of the death, re- 
 moval, resignation, or necessary absence of that officer. 
 His salary is twelve hundred dollars. 
 
 The LEGISI.ATURE consists of the Governor, a 
 Council of thirteen members, elected for four years, 
 and a House of Representatives, of twenty-six mem- 
 bers, elected for two years. The members are ap- 
 portioned among the different counties, according to 
 the population, (Indians excepted.) By a recent law 
 of Congress, the members of the Council are hereafter
 
 GOA'ERNMENT. 29 
 
 lo be elected for two years, and the members of the 
 House for one year. The Legislative power extends 
 '• to all rightful subjects of legislation" — but no law 
 can be passed interfering with the sale or disposal of 
 the public lands. No tax can be imposed on the pub- 
 lic lands, and the property of non-residents cannot be 
 taxed higher than that of residents. All laws have to 
 be submitted to, and if disapproved by the Congress of 
 the United States, they become null and void; and laws 
 incorporating banks, do not take effect unless approved 
 by Congress. The members of the Legislature re- 
 ceive three dollars per day, when in session, and three 
 dollars for every twenty miles travel in going to and 
 returning from Madison. They meet annually, on the 
 first Monday in December, and their sessions are limi- 
 ted to seventy-five days. 
 
 The Judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court, 
 District Courts, Probate Courts, and Justices of the 
 Peace. 
 
 The Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice 
 and two associate Judges, appointed during good be- 
 havior, who hold a term annually, at Madison, the 
 seat of Government, on the 3d Monday in July. The 
 salary of the Judges is eighteen hundred dollars. 
 
 The District Court is held twice a year, in each 
 county, by one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, at 
 such times as are presci:ibed by law. The Territory 
 is divided into three Judicial Districts. The First, 
 Charles Dunn, District Judge, consists of the counties 
 of Crawford, Grant and Iowa. The Second, David 
 Irwin, Judge, consists of the counties of Walworth,
 
 30 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Rock, Gi-ecn, Dane and Jefferson. The Third, An. 
 drew G. Miller, Judge, consists of tlic counties of 
 Brown, Milwaukee and Racine.* The Supreme and 
 District Courts possess Chancery, as well as common 
 law jurisdiction. 
 
 The times at present appointed by law for holding 
 the District Courts, are as follows : 
 
 FIRST DISTRICT. 
 
 Crawford — First Monday in May, and second Mon- 
 day in October. 
 
 Iowa — Second Monday in April, and first Monday 
 in September. 
 
 Grant — Fouitli Monday in April, and fourth Mon- 
 day ill September. 
 
 SECOND DISTRICT. 
 
 Green — Second Monday in April and October. 
 
 Rock — Third Monday in April and October. 
 
 Walworth — Fourth Monday in April and October, 
 
 Jefierson — Third Monday after the fourth Monday 
 in April and October. 
 
 Dane — Fourth Monday after the fourth Monday in 
 April and October. 
 
 THIRD DISTRICT. 
 
 Brown — Fourth ]Monday in May, and second Mon- 
 day in October. 
 
 Milwaukee — Second Monday in June, and first 
 Monday in November. 
 
 Racine — First Monday in July, and third Monday 
 in November. 
 
 * The remaining counties are not organised for ji.idicial purpo- 
 se:<, but are attached to some one of those here named.
 
 I^'BLlC LANDS'. 31 
 
 The JuDGKS OF Prorate, and Justices of thk 
 Peace, are now elected by the people. The Justices 
 have no jurisdiction where the title of land is in dis- 
 pute, nor where the sum claimed exceeds fifty dollars. 
 
 A Delegate to Congress is elected every two 
 yeais. who is entitled to a seat in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, and the privilege of speaking, but has no 
 right to vote on any question. 
 
 An Attorney, and Marshal, aie appointed by 
 the President, for the term of four years, unless sooner 
 removed: and the Legislature have created the offices 
 of Treasurer, Auditor, and Superintendent of public 
 property. 
 
 Wisconsin has now a population sufficient to en- 
 title her to claim an admission into the Union, as an 
 independent State, on an equal footing with the other 
 original States : that population being fixed by the or- 
 dinance of 1787, at sixty thousand ; but the people are 
 so well satisfied with their present situation, that very 
 little interest is fe-lt on this subject. Governor Doty 
 has, on two occasions, issued his proclamation request- 
 ing the people, at their general election, to vote lor or 
 against a State Government — but very few of the peo- 
 ple^have taken the trouble to express their views on 
 the subject in this way. It is probable, however, that 
 this state of things will not last long, and Wisconsin 
 will soon lake her place among the glorious Thirteen. 
 
 There are three Land Offices in Wisconsin, for 
 the disposal of public or government lands: at Mil- 
 waukec, Mineral Point and Green Bay.
 
 32 PUBLIC LANDS. 
 
 The Milwaukee Land District includes all the 
 land from range number nine east, to Lake iVlichigan ; 
 and from the Illinois State line, to town ten, inclusive; 
 and also towns eleven and twelve, in the ranges num- 
 ber twenty, twenty-one and twenty-two. The first 
 public saJe a^t this office, was held in the early part ot 
 the year 1839, and the amount of money received was 
 nearly half a million of dollars. 
 
 The Green Bay Land District includes all the 
 country north of the Milwaukee District, and the first 
 public sale was in i8o5. 
 
 The Mineral Point District lies west of the 
 Milwaukee District, extending to the Mississippi river, 
 and including all the '• xMineral Lands." The first 
 sales at Mineral Point also took place in the year 
 1835. 
 
 The following table shows the amount of land sold 
 in Wisconsin. It is made from the reports of the 
 Commissioner of the Genera] Land Office, at Wash- 
 in Mo n : 
 
 Years. 
 
 .A.cres. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 1835 
 
 217,543.91 
 
 $316,709 07 
 
 1836 
 
 646,133.73 
 
 . 808,932 32 
 
 1837 
 
 178,783 45 
 
 223,479 45 
 
 1838 
 
 87,25.6.31 
 
 109,416 14 
 
 1839 
 
 650,722.82 
 
 819,909 90 
 
 1840 
 
 127,798.34 
 
 159,848 48 
 
 1841 
 
 101,731.17 
 
 127,446 31 
 
 Sfirstqrs.of 1842 
 
 88,929.11 
 
 113,755 39 
 
 lastqr'42& 1843 (est 
 
 'd) 200,000.00 
 2.298,898.84 
 
 250,000 00 
 
 Total 
 
 82,929,497 06
 
 PUBLIC LANDS. 33 
 
 Wisconsin has, therefore, contributed nearly three 
 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS for the support of the General 
 Government. 
 
 The public lands in Wisconsin are, as elsewhere in 
 the west, surveyed into townships, six miles square 
 oach, and subdivided into sections of one rnile square, 
 or six hundred and forty acres. The townships are 
 numbered from the base line, which is the south line 
 o[ the Territory, and the ranges of townships are num- 
 bered east and west, from a line in the Mineral Point 
 District running- between the countjes of Grant and 
 Iowa, called the fourth principal meridian. Thus. 
 Milwaukee is said to be in township number seven 
 north, and in range number twenty-two east ; and 
 Cassville is in township number three north, and in 
 range number five west of the fourth principal merid- 
 ian. The sections in each township are numbered 
 from one to thirty-six, beginning at the northeast cor- 
 nier, and running west to number six : then back to 
 number twelve, and so on alternately, as is more 
 clearly illustrated in the following figure. 
 
 The section numbered sixteen^ is in all cases reser- 
 red for the use of schools in the township;
 
 34 
 
 PUBLIC LANDS. 
 NORTH. 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 . 1 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 School 
 17 16 
 ! Section. 
 
 i 
 
 15 
 
 14 
 
 13 
 
 I 
 19 
 
 1 
 20 j 21 
 
 i 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 30 
 
 29 
 
 28 
 
 27 
 
 26 
 
 1 
 25 
 
 31 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 34 
 
 35 
 
 36 
 
 SOUTH. 
 
 At the corners of each section, four trees are marked, 
 (one standing on each section) by the Surveyor, with 
 the number of the township, range and section, thus: 
 
 T 7 
 
 T 7 
 
 T 7 
 
 T 7 
 
 R 14 
 
 R 14 
 
 R 14 
 
 R 14 
 
 S 14 
 
 S 15 
 
 S 22 
 
 S 23
 
 MINERAL LANDS. 35 
 
 These marks represent the corners, at which sccr 
 tions 14. 15, 22 and 23 come together. 
 
 By means of these marks, aided by a '•' sectional 
 map," a person can, at any place in the woods, find his 
 exact position, and relative situation, and the distance 
 from other places. 
 
 The sections are divided into quarters of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres ; and the quarters are divided by 
 a line running north and south, into two equal half 
 quarters, or eighty acre lots. They are designated as 
 the east or west half of the quarter. 
 
 At the land sales in the Mineral Point District, all 
 those tracts on which lead mines or diggings were 
 found, or on which they were supposed to exist, were 
 reserved to the United States, and have not yet been 
 sold. These lands are claimed or occupied by miners, 
 who hope to obtain a pre-emption to them from Con- 
 gress. They were at first leased, under certain regu- 
 lations by the government, for a rent often per centum 
 of all the lead raised. This rent they are not now re- 
 quired to pay. Many veins or mines of lead have 
 been discovered since the sale, on lands belonging to 
 individuals ; and it is supposed that these now yield 
 as much lead as those on the reserved or public land. 
 Any attempt, therefore, to collect the rent lead, 
 would have the effect to cause the public mines to be 
 abandoned, as the occupants could not compete with 
 their neighbors who have no rent to pay. Hence it is 
 believed that the best policy for the government to 
 pursue is to dispose of these reserved lands, as other 
 public lands are disposed of.
 
 3b MINERAL LANDS. 
 
 The Register of the Land Office at Mineral Point, 
 in a letter to the Commissioner of the General Land 
 Officej* says, that '-among the regulations for the gov- 
 ernment of the mining country, there was one which 
 required that a mining lot should be two hundred and 
 twenty yards square, (ten acres) and bounded by lines 
 running due east, west, north and south. The usual 
 course adopted by persons wishing to try their for- 
 tunes in the business of mining, was to seek out an 
 unoccupied spot, where they supposed they could find 
 lead, and commence digging. If they found ore in 
 sutTicient quantities to warrant a continuance of labor, 
 they would measure off their ground and fix their 
 corner stakes, and then continue their works until they 
 traced their discovery to a valuable vein or sheet, or 
 i'ound it to be delusive. In a vast majority of ca- 
 ses the labor expended in these attempts to discover 
 lead ore was entirely lost ; and there are instances 
 where men have expended years of labor, and large 
 sums of money, and have never had the good fortune 
 to discover a valuable vein or sheet of ore ; conse- 
 quently the property of the miner, in a valuable vein or 
 discovery of lead ore is held inviolable by most of the 
 residents of the country ; its sacredness is recognised 
 by the courts and juries of the country ; and he clings 
 to it with a tenacity which will admit of no relaxation. 
 The lots claimed would probably embrace about three 
 thousand acres. They are the sole dependence of nu- 
 merous families ; their value has been discovered bv 
 
 * Dated March 23, 1838.
 
 CANAL LANDS. 3/ 
 
 llie labor and perseverance of the miners: and were 
 they dispossed of them by government, their families 
 would be reduced to want. It is thought that the mi- 
 ners have an equitable and just claim on the govern- 
 ment for aid and protection ; they accepted its invitation 
 to labor upon its territory and to develope its wealth : 
 they have staked off. and labored for years upon some 
 five or six hundred ten acre lots, and have paid the 
 government about two hundred and thirty thousand 
 dollars for the piivilege."' 
 
 Efforts are now making to induce Congress lo 
 change its highly impolitic course in relation to these 
 mineral lots and reserved lands, and to dispose of them 
 to individuals. It is believed that this course would 
 have a very beneficial effect upon the state of the mines, 
 and even upon the character of the miners themselves. 
 
 The Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company, 
 in 1838, in pursuance of authority granted in their 
 charter, applied to Congress, on behalf of the Terri- 
 tory, and secured a grant or donation of land, consist- 
 ing of all the -sections and fractional sections whicii 
 are numbered with odd numbers on the plats of public 
 surveys within the breadth of five full sections, taken 
 in north and south tiers on each side of said canal, 
 from one end thereof to the other." This grant is 
 made to the Territory to aid in the construction of the 
 canal; and the land (as well as the even numbered 
 sections within the same distance from the canal.) can- 
 not be sold for less than two dollars and fifty cents per 
 acre, being double the usual minimum price of public
 
 ^8 rNIVERSlTY. 
 
 lands. Consequently the government, by taxing double 
 price for the even sections, realize exactly the same 
 amount of money from the sale of these lands as if the 
 grant or donation had not been made. 
 
 In July, 1839, a sale of Canal lands was held at 
 Mihvaukee, at which forty-three thousand four hundred 
 and forty-seven acres were sold to the occupants of the 
 land, at the minimum price of two dollars and fifty 
 cents per acre, upon the following terms : one-tenth of 
 the purchase money was paid at the time of the sale ; 
 one-fourth of the remainder to be paid within five 
 years, one-fourth within six years, one-fourth within 
 seven years, and one-fourth within eight years, with 
 interest after the twenty-second day of June, 1840, at 
 the rate of seven per centum, payable semi-annually. 
 The amount of money received at this sale, was twelve 
 thousand three hundred seventy-seven dollars and 
 twenty-seven cents. 
 
 The purchasers at this sale, feeling the unjustness 
 of being compelled to pay double price for their lands, 
 have induced the Legislature to remit the interest due ; 
 to repeal all laws authorising further sales, and even 
 to decline having any thing further to do with the 
 grant, and to ask Congress to repeal the act making 
 the same, so that the lands may revert back to the 
 general government, and be sold as other public lands, 
 at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 
 
 A donation of two townships, or forty-six thousand 
 and eighty acres of land, has been made by Congress 
 to the Territory, to be selected bv the legislature, from
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 39 
 
 any unsold public lands, for the purpose of establishing 
 ?j University in the Territory; and in 1838, a law was 
 passed "to establish the University of the Territory of 
 Wisconsin," which is to be located at or near Madison, 
 the seat of government. It is under the direction of a 
 Board of Visitors, consisting of twenty-one members, 
 of which the Governor, Secretary of the Territory, and 
 Judges of the Supreme Court, are members. This 
 board held one meeting at Madison soon after waids — 
 but all subsequent attempts at meeting have failed, 
 on account of the great number necessary to form a 
 quorum, — consequently nothing has been accomplish- 
 ed in relation to this important subject. The Legisla- 
 ture, a few years since, appointed Commissioners to 
 select a portion of the lands, who made a selection of 
 ten thousand two hundred and fifty acres in the Mil- 
 waukee Land District, and an equal quantity in the 
 Green Bay District: the remainder is yet to be select- 
 ed. Should this subject be placed in the hands of a 
 few discreet and practical men, it is believed that the 
 iands donated might be made to produce a fund suffi- 
 cient to establish, in a few years, an institution which 
 would be a great honor and blessing to the country. 
 Why is this matter so neglected in this enlightened 
 age and country ? 
 
 One thirty-sixth part of the whole Territory, being 
 the section numbered sixteen in each township, is set 
 apart for the use of schools. These sections are reser- 
 ved from sale by the general government, and are to 
 be transferred to Wisconsin whenever she becomes a
 
 40 POPULATION'. 
 
 State. School Commissioners are appointed in each 
 town to take charg-e of these lands — to lease them for a 
 term of years — and to attend to other matters relative to 
 common schools. A tax is levied upon all the taxable 
 property, for the purpose of erecting school houses, 
 and of paying the ii'K'.idental expenses of teaching. Al- 
 ready have a great number of school houses been 
 erected in the different towns and school districts. The 
 number of scholars taught in 1840, according to the 
 census then taken, was nearly two thousand. 
 
 A college has been commenced, at a most beautiful 
 location, on the Twin Lakes, twenty-seven miles west 
 from Milwaukee, under the management of the Epis- 
 copalian Church. The energy which has characteri- 
 sed its commencement; gives promise of much future 
 usefulness. 
 
 The Legislature, on the 5th of April, 1843, adopted 
 resolutions asking an appropriation of land by Con- 
 gress, for the purpose of establishing within the limits 
 of this Territory, institutions for the instruction of tho 
 deaf and dumb, and blind, and an asylum for the in- 
 sane. Whether Congress will grant this very reason- 
 able request, remains to be seen. 
 
 la 1830. the United States census shows a popula- 
 tion of three thousand two hundred and forty-five, in 
 the counties of Brown, Crawford and Iowa, then con- 
 stiiuling that portion of Michigan which is now es- 
 tablished as a separate Territory of Wisconsin. In
 
 PCPLLATION. 
 
 41 
 
 1S3G, the population was over eleven thousand : in 
 1838, eighteen thousand ; in 1840, thirty-one thousand : 
 and in 1842, the date of the last enumeration, it was 
 forty-six thousand six hundred and seventy-eight. 
 Since that census was laken, the flood of new comer?, 
 by every arrival, has been such that there cannot be a 
 reasonable doubt that the present population of Wis- 
 consin exceeds one hundred thousand souls. 
 
 The following table shows the population of each 
 county, at the date of the several enumerations ; 
 
 COUNTIES. 
 
 1830 
 
 1836 
 
 1838 
 
 1840 
 
 j 1842 
 
 Brown 
 
 Calumet 
 
 964 
 
 2,706 
 
 3,048 
 
 2,107 
 
 275 
 
 1,502 
 
 314 
 
 67 
 
 139 
 
 3.926 
 
 '933 
 
 3.978 
 
 '914 
 
 235 
 
 IS 
 
 5,605 
 
 1,623 
 
 3.475 
 
 1,701 
 
 102 
 
 133 
 
 809 
 
 2,611 
 
 343 
 
 135 
 
 1 2,146 
 407 
 
 Crawford 
 
 Dane 
 
 692 
 
 654 
 
 1,220 
 172 
 
 18 
 
 2.763 
 '491 
 
 3,218 
 468 
 
 : 1,449 
 776 
 
 Dodo"8 
 
 
 
 149 
 
 Fond da Lac .... 
 Grant 
 
 
 
 
 295 
 5,937 
 
 Green ... 
 
 
 
 1 594 
 
 Iowa 
 
 L589 
 
 5,234 
 
 5,029 
 
 ' 1,638 
 
 263 
 
 Jefferson 
 
 Manitowoc 
 
 
 
 Mirquette 
 
 
 
 
 59 
 
 Mil wauk.ee 
 
 
 2,892 
 
 3,131 
 
 9.565 
 
 Portage 
 
 
 '646 
 
 Racine 
 
 
 
 2,054 
 
 480 
 
 
 
 6.318 
 
 Rock 
 
 
 
 2,867 
 
 Sauk 
 
 
 
 303 
 
 Sheboyg-in 
 
 
 
 
 221 
 
 St. Croix 
 
 
 
 
 1,200 
 
 Walworih 
 
 
 
 1,019 
 64 
 
 4,618 
 
 Washinnrton . 
 
 
 
 965 
 
 Winneba^^o 
 
 
 
 143 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3,245 
 
 1 1,686 
 
 18,149 
 
 30,945 
 
 46,678
 
 42 PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 By this table there appears to be a diminution of 
 population in the county of Brown, between 183S and 
 1840, and in Portage county between 1840 and 1842: 
 the first was occasioned by setting off new counties 
 from Brown, and the last by the omission, in 1842, of 
 the soldiers and officers of the garrison at Fort Win- 
 nebago. In 1842, the population of Milwaukee county 
 was nearly one-fourth of the whole number in the Ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 In 1840, the number of males was 18,757 
 
 '•' " females 11,992 
 
 showing an excess of males of 6,765 
 
 The number of free colored persons was.. 185 
 
 " slaves 11 
 
 " deaf and dumb ». 5 
 
 " blind 9 
 
 " insane and idiots 13 
 
 Employed in agriculture 7,047 
 
 " mining 794 
 
 " commerce 479 
 
 " manufactures and trades 1,814 
 
 " learned professions 259 
 
 Number of white persons over twenty years 
 
 of age who could not read or write 1,701 
 
 Scholars in common schools 1,937 
 
 Lead, copper, shot, and furs, constitute the chief ar- 
 ticles of export Irom Wisconsin — nearly all her other 
 products being consumed within herself for the sup- 
 port of those engaged in mining, and of the immense 
 immigration which is so rapidly flowing in upon us:
 
 PRODUCTIONS. 4 
 
 O 
 
 thus creating that best of all markets, a home market, 
 
 for all the surplus produce. 
 
 The following table shows the products of Wiscon- 
 sin during the year 1839, as exhibited by the United 
 
 States census of 1840 : 
 
 Pounds of lead produced . 15,129,350 
 
 " wool 6,777 
 
 " wax 1,474 
 
 " hops 133 
 
 " tobacco 115 
 
 '• silk cocoons ^ 
 
 '' maple sugar 135,288 
 
 " soap 64,317 
 
 " tallow candles 12,909 
 
 Value of produce of quarries. $ 968 
 
 '• poultry -- 16,167 
 
 " dairy produce 35.677 
 
 '• orchard produce 37 
 
 " home made or family goods — 12,567 
 
 '• produce of market gardens 3,106 
 
 '• " nurseries, &c 1,025 
 
 " lumber produced 202,239 
 
 " skifls and furs 120.776 
 
 Number of horses and mules 5,735 
 
 " neat cattle _ 30,269 
 
 » sheep 3,462 
 
 " swine 51,383 
 
 Bushelsof wheat _ 212,116 
 
 " barley 11,062 
 
 '• oats 406,514 
 
 " buckwheat .,.,,, 10.654
 
 44 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Bushels of Indian corn _ 379,350 
 
 " potatoes..- 419,608 
 
 Tons of hay produced 30,938 
 
 Cords of wood sold 22,910 
 
 Barrels of pickled fish 9,021 
 
 This census further shows that there were then 178 
 stores and groceries, 14 lumber yards, 1 tannery, 3 
 distilleries, 3 breweries, 6 printing-olficcs, 4 flouring 
 mills, 29 grist mills, and 124 saw mills. 
 
 In making an estimate of the present amount of any 
 kind of produce we must take into account not only 
 the increased population, but also the larger number 
 of acres from which the former inhabitants produce 
 their crops. Hence we may, in general, double the 
 foregoing figures to show the probable produce of the 
 year 1843. 
 
 Little has yet been done in the construction of pub- 
 lic works in Wisconsin. Appropriations have been 
 made by the general government, and expended on the 
 following roads : 
 
 From Green Bay, by Milwaukee and Racine, to the 
 State line — distance, one hundred and flfty-eight miles. 
 
 From Milwaukee, by Aztalan and Madison, to the 
 Mississippi, at a point opposite Dubuque. 
 
 From Sauk Harbor, on Lake Michigan, to Dekorre. 
 on the Wisconsin river — distance eighty-six miles. 
 
 From Fond du Lac, by Fox Lake, to the Wisconsin 
 river. 
 
 From Racine, by Janesville, to Sinipee, on the Mis- 
 sissippi — distance one hundred and fifty miles.
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 4i> 
 
 From Fort Howard, Green Bay, by Fort Winne- 
 bago at the Winnebago portage, to Fort Crawford, at 
 Prairie du Chien. called the " Military Road" — dis- 
 tance from Fort Howard to Fond du Lac, fifty-six 
 miles : thence to Fort Winnebago, sixty miles ; thence 
 to Fort Crawford, one hundred and nineteen miles. 
 
 Appropriations have also been made and expended 
 for the construction of a pier at the north end of Lake 
 Winnebago, and of a harbor at Milwaukee. Surveys 
 have been made by Capt, T. J. Cram, of the United 
 States Topographical Engineers, for which appropria- 
 tions were made bv Congress, of the Wisconsin and 
 Neenah rivers : of Rock river ; and of the Catfish, or 
 liver of the Four Lakes. The reports relative to these 
 rivers have been published, accompanied by maps. 
 Surveys have also been made for the sites of several 
 harbors on Lake Michigan, by the U. S. Engineers. 
 viz : at Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Milwaukee, 
 Racine, Pike and Southport. 
 
 The Territory having no adequate resources of its 
 own, and its goveriMnent being only a limited and 
 temporary one, not having the powers of sovereignty 
 like an independent State, does not engage in the con- 
 struction of public works, for the improvement of the 
 country : but numerous companies have, from time to 
 time, been incorporated for that purpose, as may be 
 seen by the following list : 
 
 The " Portage Canal Company," was incorporated 
 by the Legislature of Michigan, in 1834, to construct a 
 canal to connect the waters of the Neenah and Wis- 
 consin rivers, at or near the place known as the Wis- 
 consin Portage.
 
 46 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 The '• Wisconsin Internal Improvement Company," 
 was also incorporated by the Legislature of Michigan, 
 ia 1835, " for the purpose of opening a communication 
 by land or water, between Green Bay and the Missis- 
 sippi river, by removing the obstructions in the bed of 
 Fox river, or by creating a slack water navigation 
 over its rapids, and by cutting a canal from the Fox to 
 the Wisconsin or Rock rivers, or from Winnebago 
 lake ; or by constructing a rail or McAdamized road 
 around the rapids of the Fox and Rock rivers." This 
 law, so general in its provisions, was not to take effect 
 until it was approved by Congress. 
 
 The " L'l Fontaine Rail Road Company," was in- 
 corporated at the first session of the Legislative As- 
 sembly of the Territory of Wisconsin, to construct a 
 rail road from La Fontaine, on Fox river, at the Grand 
 Kakalin, to Winnebago city, or some other convenient 
 point on Lake Winnebago. 
 
 The " Belmont and Dubuque Rail Road Company" 
 was incorporated in 1836, to construct a rail road 
 from Belmont to the nearest and most eligible point 
 on the Mississippi, with power to extend it to Mineral 
 Point, and to Dodgeville. 
 
 The '-Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company" 
 was incorporated in January, 1838, to construct a canal, 
 or slack water navigation from the town of Milwaukee 
 to Rock river, and also a branch to connect with the 
 Fox or Pishtaka river, at or near Prairieville. 
 
 The " Root River Rail Road Company" was incor- 
 porated in 1838, to construct a rail road from at or 
 near Ball's mill, on Root river, to the head of the
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 47 
 
 lower rapids on said river, with the privilege of ex- 
 tending- the same to Racine. 
 
 The " iVIarquette and Kentucky City Canal Com- 
 pany," was incorporated in 1838, to construct a canal 
 from Marquette, on Fox river or Lake Puckawa, to 
 Kentucky city, (Dekorre) on the Wisconsin. 
 
 The "Racine and Rock River Rail Road Company" 
 was incorporated in 1838, to construct a rail road from 
 Racine to Janesville, on Rock river. 
 
 The " Pekatonica and Mississippi Rail Road Com- 
 pany" was incorporated in 1839, to construct a rail 
 road from Mineral Point to the Mississippi, by the 
 nearest and most practicable route. 
 
 The "Pekatonica Navigation Company" was incor- 
 porated in 1839, to improve the navigation of the Pe- 
 katonica from Mineral Point to the Illinois State line, 
 by canal or slack water navigation. 
 
 The " Michigan and Rock River Rail Road Com- 
 pany" was incorporated in 1839, to construct a rail 
 road from Rock river, at or near the State line, to Lake 
 Michigan, in the township of Southport. This Com- 
 pany was incorporated over again, in January, 1840. 
 
 The " Fox River Improvement Company" was in- 
 corporated in 1842, to improve the " navigation of the 
 Neenah or Fox river, and the construction of rail or 
 McAdamized roads on the carrying places or portages 
 on said river, from and to such points thereon as may 
 be deemed practicable." 
 
 This list will indicate the improvements that have 
 been deemed important, and which may hereafter be 
 made, as the 'population and wealth of the country
 
 4:) INTEnXAL niPROVK'NlENTS. 
 
 are such as to require them, and afTord the means for 
 their construction. 
 
 These companies have done but little towards com- 
 pleting the works for which they were incorporated. 
 The Portage Canal Company have constructed a tow 
 path, and dug a channel through which small boats 
 may pass, in times of high water, between the Neenah 
 and Wisconsin rivers. 
 
 The Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company, 
 made all the necessary surveys and location of a canal, 
 to connect the waters of Like Michigan with those of 
 Rock river ; but owing to the difficulties relating to 
 the sale of the lands granted by Congress to aid in its 
 construction, this Company have only been able to 
 finish about one mile of canal, near its eastern termi- 
 nation. Fortunately, however, this portion of the 
 work creates a very valuable water power, from which 
 much benefit will accrue to the country, even should 
 no further progress ever be made in the construction 
 of the canal. 
 
 The great object which it is most desirable to attain 
 by works of internal improvement in Wisconsin, is the 
 transportation of the thirty millions of pounds of lead, 
 copper and shot produced in the western counties to 
 the shore of Lake Michigan, and the supply of that 
 '' Mineral District" with merchandize by way of the 
 ■• Great Lakes." This, and the transportation of the 
 surplus agricultural products of the intermediate coun- 
 iry to market, and the supply of goods to the interior 
 population, it is believed can be best accomplished b}^ 
 means of a rail road from Milwaukee to the Missis-
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 49 
 
 t^lppi river, a work entirely practicable. The two 
 great obstacles at present in the way of the construc- 
 tion of this work are. the difficulty of deciding upon 
 the points at which it shall terminate, and through 
 which it shall pass — and the want of adequate funds. 
 For the want of this improvement the products of the 
 mineral country have been transported to the Missis- 
 sippi river, and from thence by way of New-Orleans 
 and New-York back to Milwaukee, within one hun- 
 dred and fifty miles from where it was originally pro- 
 duced. It is calculated by intelligent persons, that in 
 this way the citizens of the mineral country have ac- 
 tually lost in useless transportation of their products, a 
 sum which would be sufficient to construct this rail 
 roa-'] ; for all expenses incurred in bringing articles to 
 market are but so much reduction of their value to the 
 producers. The reduction of the tolls on the Efie 
 canal of New-York, so promptly made by that State 
 at the request of Wisconsin, is only of very limited 
 'benefit to us, so long as lead has to be brought in wag- 
 gons from the mining country to the lake shore. 
 
 It "is known from the surveys made for the Milwau- 
 kee and Rock River Canal, that there is no difficulty 
 in the way of the construction of this work as far as 
 Rock river, with gentle grades and curves ; and it is 
 believed that by following the •' dividing ridge" be- 
 tween the Wisconsin river and the streams running 
 south into the Mississippi, there will be found but little 
 difficulty on the entire route 
 
 The cost of transportation of lead by waggons, frpm 
 Mineral Point to Milwaukee, in the summer, when 
 4
 
 50 INTERNAL niPROVEMENTS 
 
 the drivers can sleep in their waggons, and their cattle 
 can find an abundance of feed on the open prairie, is 
 about fifty cents per hundred pounds. At other sea- 
 sons it varies from fifty cents to one dollar per hundred 
 pounds. At this lowest rate the thirty millions of 
 pounds, if transported on a rail road, would yield an 
 income of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per 
 annum, which would be sufficient to pay the whole 
 cost of the road in ten j^ears. But if we take into the 
 account the increase of business consequent upon this 
 improvement, the merchandize that would be carried 
 from Milwaukee to the mineral country ; the agricul- 
 tural and other products that would be transported on 
 the road, and the toil derived from passengers, we can- 
 not resist the belief that this project is one that must 
 soon attract the attention of capitalists, even if the peo- 
 ple of Wisconsin should not exert themselves much to 
 accomplish so desirable an improvement. 
 
 Other portions of the Territory are endeavoring to 
 secure this lead trade, and wherever it is brought to 
 the shore of the lake, the magnitude of the trade will 
 be such as to afTord business for a great number of in- 
 habitants, and thus be the means of building up a town. 
 
 Besides the rail road, it is proposed to improve the 
 navigation of the Wisconsin and Neenah rivers, so as 
 to secure the trade to Green Bay, and efforts are now 
 making to obtain an appropriation by Congress to ac- 
 complish this important work. The estimated expense 
 of this improvement, as made by Capt. Cram, is as 
 follows :
 
 ALTITUDE OF PLACES. 31 
 
 At Des Peres ^ 20.306 79 
 
 '' Rapide de Croche 19^062 29 
 
 " Grand Kakalin 107,574 85 
 
 " Little Chute 99,693 60 
 
 " Grand Chute ._ 82,386 74 
 
 " Winnebago Rapids 23,748 5<> 
 
 Between mouth of Wolf river and Fort 
 
 Winnebago 6,230 50 
 
 At the portage 64,085 81 
 
 Superintendence and contingencies 25,385 10 
 
 Total... $448,470 18 
 
 This is but a very small sum, compared to the mag- 
 nitude and importance of the work. 
 
 To bring the lead, copper, and shot by way of the 
 lakes, is an object of importance not only to Wiscon- 
 sin, but to all the States bordering on the lakes — and 
 even the New-England States will derive a share of 
 the benefits, in the diminished prices which they will 
 have to pay for these necessary articles. Will they 
 not, then, assist us in accomplishing this very desirable 
 object ? 
 
 The following table of the altitude of places in 
 Wisconsin, above the surface of Lake Michigan, may 
 be useful in making future surveys for canals, rail 
 roads, or other public works, and also in making a 
 geological survey. They were ascertained by actual 
 levelling by the author, except where otherwise stated, 
 To find the elevation of any of these places above the 
 ocean, we have only to add the elevation of that Jakr .
 
 !j-2 ALTITt'DE or PLACES, 
 
 which is 578 feet, to the altitudes 'here given. Frac- 
 tional parts of a foot are omitted : 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Milwaukee river, at head of rapids 37 
 
 Menomonee, at Ross' mill — 33 
 
 " at crossing of U, S. road 61 
 
 '• near the Forks li-'> 
 
 " at Verbryck's mill 144 
 
 Big Meadow, in Town 7, Range 20 252 
 
 Poplar Creek, on old Prairieville road — 240 
 
 Hills, between Poplar Creek and Prairieville 329 
 
 Pewaukee Lake, (before it was raised) — 263 
 
 Pishtaka river, at foot of Prairieville rapids 211 
 
 " " at Elgin, 111. (Mr.Gooding's report) 115 
 
 Pewaukee summit, (Milwaukee and R. R. canal) 316 
 
 Nagowicka Lake 304 
 
 Nemahbin Lake -. 289 
 
 Crooked Lake — 288 
 
 North Twin (Nashotah) _ 290 
 
 Cranberry Lake, (Jefferson county) 269 
 
 Silver Lake 278 
 
 Oconomewoc Lake , 273 
 
 Rock river, opposite La Belle Lake _ 257 
 
 '' <' at Jefferson 1 86 
 
 Hill at west end of Pewaukee Lake 393 
 
 The following altitudes are estimated, from levels 
 taken by Capt. Cram, at the rapids on several rivers, 
 and an allowance made for the descent between them. 
 
 They are supposed to be nearly correct : 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Rock river, at its source 316 
 
 «^ " at mouth of Catfish ... , 163
 
 ^GEOLOGY. 53 
 
 iRock river at State line (Beloit) - I'i8 
 
 Fourth Lake, in Dane county "^10 
 
 Lake Winnebago '. lOO 
 
 Summit between Lake Winnebago and Plum creek 
 
 (85.5 above Lake Winnebago) 2{:> 
 
 Marsh at the head of north branch of the Manito- 
 woc river (68 feet above Lake Winnebago) — 228 
 
 Wisconsin portage* 223 
 
 AVisconsin river at Helena 170 
 
 Blue Mound (1000 feet above Helena) 1170 
 
 Mississippi, at mouth of Wisconsin 1 C^ 
 
 - " Rock river, 63 feet below 
 
 Lake Michigan. 
 
 The reader will not, of course, expect much infoi'- 
 Riation relative to the geological character of a counlry 
 so recently brought into notice, a large part of which 
 is still uninhabited by civilized man ; and all that can 
 be attempted is a brief outline. Several geologists 
 have travelled hastily through the country, mostly in 
 small canoes along the principal rivers and lakes, 
 and have published accounts of their necessarily limi- 
 ted and hasty observations. Among them are Mr. 
 Schoolcraft, Mr. Keating, (who was attached to Longs 
 expedition) Mr. Featherstonaugh, United States geoL 
 
 * This portage summit is stated by Mr. Higgins, the Top^era- 
 pher of Michigan, (Report of 1839, page 49) to be 121 feet above 
 Lake Michigan, which is evidently too low. In that report the 
 "Little Chute" is stated to have a fall of only one and a hill" 
 feet; whereas Capt. Cram ascertained, by "instrumental survey,'' 
 that the descent liere is thirty-one feet : and on seven raptds be- 
 low Lake Winnebago, he reports a fall of about one hundred and 
 twenty feet, to which is to be added all the descent in rhe river 
 between these rapids.
 
 54 GEOLOGY PRIMITIVE DISTRICT. 
 
 ogist ; and more recently, Mr. James Hall, one of the 
 geologists of the State of New-York. In 1839, a very- 
 minute and elaborate geological survey was made, 
 under the authority of Congress, by Dr. D. D. Owen, 
 and Dr. John Locke, of the " mineral region" in this 
 Territory, as well as in Iowa and Illinois ; but as their 
 report has never been fully given to the public, the 
 results of this survey are but little known. 
 
 The Territory may very naturally be divided into 
 four geological districts, differing very materially from 
 each other in physical character dependent upon the 
 rocks prevailing in each. They will be demonstrated, 
 1st. the Primitive ; 2d, the Sandstone; 3d, the ?vlineral : 
 and 4th, the Limestone Districts. 
 
 I. So far as is at present known, all the northern 
 portion of the Territory, extending down the Missis- 
 sippi nearly to the Falls of St. Anthony, thence across' 
 to the Falls of the rivers St. Croix, Black and Wiscon- 
 sin, and thence to Lake Superior, along the course of 
 the Chocolate river in Michigan, may be considered 
 as PRIMITIVE, or abounding in primitive rocks. They 
 are mostly granite and hornblende rocks, but the other 
 varieties of rocks belonging to this class are also found, 
 as is evinced by the following list of the localities ob- 
 served by the geologists who have visited this region. 
 The only rock other than primitive in this district, is 
 the "old red sandstone," one of the oldest of the trans- 
 ition rocks. Red-rock Island, in the Lake of the 
 Woods, derives its name from a red granite rock of 
 which it is composed. Granite is also one of the 
 most common of the boulders scattered over the Ter-
 
 GEOLOGY PRIMITIVE DISTRICT. 55 
 
 vitory. Most of the islands in that lake, and Rainy 
 lake, which is similar to it in general character, con- 
 sist of MICA sLATEj tho Vertical layers of which are 
 constantly decaying and falling into tho water. Talc- 
 osE rock is said to be found on the Mississippi, at 
 the Little Falls ; and as this is the only rock in which 
 gold occurs in the United States, it may be important 
 to examine this locality with care. Hornblende 
 ROCK is found at many of the rapids on the Upper Mis- 
 sissippi ; and it constitutes that rough, high, broken 
 promontory extending into Lake Superior between the 
 bays of Fond du Lac and Chegoinegan, called the De- 
 tour. A large proportion of the boulders contain more 
 or less hornblende in their composition. Some of the 
 rocky islands of the Lake of the Woods, and of Rainy 
 lake, are composed of Sienite, which also occasions 
 the falls at the outlet of tho latter, where the water 
 falls into the river over a ledge twenty-five feet high. 
 Argillite is found at the " Portage aux Coteau," on 
 the St. Louis river : the sharp edges of its vertical lay- 
 ers occasion much inconvenience in passing the por- 
 tage. Serpentine is found in small masses on Lake 
 Superior, containing grains of native copper. It is 
 also said to be found in connection with the celebrated 
 copper rock from the Ontonagon river, now in the 
 cabinet of the National Institute at Washington. To 
 discover the locality of this rock in its native beds then, 
 becomes an important desideratum. According to 
 Cleveland, Serpentine is associated with primitive and 
 transition rocks, and exist in beds in gneiss, mica-slate, 
 and argillite; so that in any part of the primitive dis-
 
 56 CJLOLOGY — SANDSTONE DISTRICT. 
 
 trict of our Territory we may expect to find it. Gran- 
 ular QUARTZ, constitutes the Falls of Pickagama,- on 
 the Mississippi ; and Greenstone, having sometimes 
 a columnar structure, is found on the St. Croix river, 
 commencing twenty-four miles above the lake, and 
 constituting the rocky glen at the Falls. 
 
 The mineral district of Lake Superior, whicii is now 
 beginning to attract so much attention, lies mostly in. 
 Michigan, between the Montreal river and Kewena 
 Point ; and therefore does not properly require a de- 
 scription here. Its geological character is entirely 
 different from the Wisconsin lead and copper district. 
 
 II. The country next to this Primitive district, ex- 
 tending along the Mississippi from the Falls of St. 
 Anthony to the borders of the Mineral district, a shon 
 distance south of the Wisconsin river, and extending^ 
 up the branches of the Mississippi to their respective 
 falls, is composed of sandstone resting upon, and sur- 
 mounted by limestone. In many places only one of 
 these rocks exists, the others being below the deepest 
 valleys, or have been carried away or destroyed by 
 some unknown cause. The sandstone is mostly pure, 
 and •• white as the driven snow" — resembling the finest 
 white sugar in appearance, but is occasionally colored 
 by iron rust with red, orange, or dark tints : at other 
 times it is yellowish, and has been compared to the 
 finer varieties of Muscovado sugar. These co-lors are 
 frequently arranged in stripes or bands. It is soft and 
 easily crumbles — so soft, says Featherstonaugh, that 
 the swallows, in great numbers, have been able to 
 pick ho!r-.9 in it, on the Wiscon.sin river, to build their
 
 GEOLOGY SANDSTONE DISTRICT. 0/ 
 
 nests. The grains appear to bo perfect quartz crystals; 
 and not beach sand smoothed and ground by the action 
 of water and then hardened into rock. This pure sand 
 must ere long become the material for the manufac- 
 ture of glass. The sandstone is sixty feet in thickness 
 at the Falls of St. Anthony, and about the same at 
 Prairie du Chien : but along the Wisconsin Hills it 
 attains a thickness of over two hundred feet. The 
 cliffs along the Mississippi, for a distance of thirty-five 
 miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, appear to be 
 composed chiefly of this crumbling sandstone. Large 
 blocks are occasionally undermined and fall down, 
 lying in confused heaps at the base of the bluffs. The 
 rivers running through the district where this sand- 
 stone prevails, are characterised by shallow water, 
 filled with moving sand, forming bars, that are con- 
 stantly carried away from some points, and accumula- 
 ting at others, rendering the navigation difficult. By 
 far the larger proportion of the river bluffs along the 
 Mississippi are calcareous, and present high perpen- 
 dicular rocky fronts towards the river, supported by 
 immense quantities of broken fragments at the base, 
 extending usually half way to the summit. They are 
 said to attain their greatest elevation in the vicinity of 
 Lake Pepin. The limeslone which lies above the 
 sandstone in Wisconsin, was found by Dr. Locke, to 
 be the same that he had described in Ohio as the 
 •■ Blue limestone," and which constitutes the hills sur- 
 rounding the city of Cincinnati. It is considered by 
 most geologists as the equivalent of the •' Trenton 
 limestone" of the New-York geologists: but Mr. Hall
 
 o8 GEOLOGY MINERAL DISTRICT. 
 
 thinks it belongs to a more recent period. All the 
 rocks of this district are referable to the " Champlain 
 division," which is the first, or oldest of the transition 
 rocks in the United States. 
 
 III. The third Geological district is that known, 
 (and very properly) as the " Mineral country," the 
 word 'mineral being used here, to denote an ore of 
 some useful metal. The lead bearing rock is a loose, 
 porous, yellowish limestone, resting upon the "blue 
 limestone," and is deemed equivalent to the '-cliff 
 limestone" of Dr. Locke of Ohio, and the^ " Niagara 
 limestone" of the New- York geologists. It is there- 
 fore the Geodiferous limestone of the late Prof. 
 Eaton, a name which ought to be restored as having 
 been first applied to this rock, and being at least as free 
 from objections as either of the others. Above the geo- 
 diferous or lead bearing rock, we find in this district the 
 cornitiferous rock of Eaton, constituting the " mounds," 
 throughout the mineral district, and known by the 
 quantities of chirt or flint, or " quartz formation" which 
 it contains. The boundaries of this district, according 
 to Dr. Owen, runs nearly parallel with, and a few 
 miles south of the Wisconsin, from the Mississippi to 
 the Blue Mounds, and thence down the Sugar river 
 nearly to the south line of tlie Territory, where it di- 
 verges suddenly to the west and crosses that line near 
 the Peckatonica. It embraces about sixty-two town- 
 ships, constituting by far the larger proportion of the 
 lead district of the Upper Mississippi ; as the extent of 
 country from which this mineral is obtained in Illinois 
 is only ten townships, and in Iowa Territory only
 
 GEOLOGY — MINERAL DISTRICT. 59 
 
 eight. The surface rock in this district being lime- 
 stone, and the face of the country not being moun- 
 tainous, as is usually the case in mining countries, we 
 find that the lands about our lead-mines are as valuable 
 for agricultural purposes as almost any other in the 
 west, thus affording this district advantages not to be 
 found in combination elsewhere ; for, except in this 
 case, the country which is valuable for its mines, is 
 good for nothing in the eyes of an agriculturist. The 
 theoretical geologist will find a hard problem to solve 
 in his endeavor to account for the almost total absence 
 of those boulders of primitive rock in the mineral dis- 
 trict, which are so abundant elsewhere in the Terri- 
 tory. 
 
 In Silliman's Journal of Science and Arts for July, 
 1832, is an article by" James P. Hodge, '• on the Wis- 
 consin and Missouri Lead Region," which contains 
 the most correct account that has recently been pub- 
 lished, of the manner in which the lead is found in the 
 rock : the general character of the mineral country, 
 &c.; it is therefore hoped that no apology is necessary 
 for introducing here the following extract : 
 
 "Though the 'cliff' [Geodiferous] limestone, the 
 formation that contains the lead ore, occupies a greater 
 extent of country, it is in this portion only that circum- 
 stances seem to have been favorable for the production 
 ot fissures containing the ore. Its strata appear uni- 
 formly horizontal, until by tracing them some miles, a 
 prevailing dip to" the south is discovered. The lead 
 region is a rolling hilly country, the hills sometimes 
 covered with an open growth of oak, but as often -cii-
 
 CO GEOLOGY MINERAL DISTRICT. 
 
 tirely free from timber, and clotljed with the tall prairio 
 grass only. The summits maintain a general level, 
 except where it is broken by the ' natural mounds,' 
 (the two Blue Mounds, the Platte Mounds, Sinsinawa 
 Mounds, &c.) which rise several hundred feet above it. 
 In these the limestone appears more silicious than is 
 noticed elsewhere, and its superior hardness may in 
 part have been the cause of these mounds remaining 
 like monuments of the devastating currents that must 
 have given the surface around its present form ; while 
 the huge blocks, tipped out of their horizontal position, 
 lie on the steep sides, as additional evidence of the 
 wasting waters. 
 
 " Throughout the extensive tract defined as the lead 
 region, lead ore may be sought for with prospect of 
 success, on every township, and on almost every square 
 mile. And, fortunately, it is so well watered, and the 
 little streams have so rapid a fall, that power for furna- 
 ces may almost always be obtained near the mines. 
 New discoveries are continually made, and with every 
 one, further light is thrown upon the true character of 
 the ranges of fissures containing the lead and copper 
 ores, by which results they can be traced with greater 
 certainty from one tract to another, without depending 
 entirely on the present imperfect system of ' prospect- 
 ing.' 
 
 "' Beneath the cliff limestone is a thin stratum of 
 blue limestone, and this rests on a body of brown sand- 
 stone. As one goes from the southern townships of 
 Wisconsin towards the north, this blue limestone is 
 observed to become higher and higher in the hills, and
 
 GEOLOGY — MINERAL DISTRICT. 61 
 
 the lead diggings to be every where above it. Though 
 the sandstone rocks come out in bold bluffs on the 
 sides of the hills, no veins of ore are ever found in 
 them ; but in the cliff limestone above, they are found, 
 though the rook and its fissures lie hid under a great 
 depth of soil. 
 
 " These fissures are of every degree of width, from 
 fifty feet down to thin cracks ; all of them do not con- 
 tain ore: the large chambers when they have any min- 
 eral in them, are lined on the walls with a coating of 
 lead ore, seldom over a foot thick, while the interior is 
 filled w^ith clay. Sometimes across the crevices run 
 Irorizontal layers of galena ; and again it occurs in 
 loose ' chunks' in the clay of the fissures, or of the soil 
 above, and again it runs in a vertical sheet down, or 
 still again filling narrow fissures in the appearance of 
 a vein and of a bed in the solid rock. But lead is not 
 the only ore these fissures contain. Mixed with it in 
 every proportion, and even sometimes getting the bet- 
 ter ef the galena, and shutting it out completely, occur 
 both the carbonate and sulphuret of zinc; the ore known 
 to the miners by the name of '• dry bone," the other 
 "blackjack." From the abundance of the carbonate 
 of zinc, and its being an ore that when clear yields 
 about sixty per cent, of the oxide, it seems probable 
 that it will sometime become an object of importance ; 
 now it is considered a great obstruction whenever met 
 with, and the galena when mixed with much of th« 
 zinc ore, brings an inferior price. 
 
 " The direction of the fissures downwards is as va- 
 riable as their size and shape They run like cracks
 
 G2 GEOLOGY MINERAL DISTRICT. 
 
 through a rock — sometimes vertically, sometimes in- 
 clined, and sometimes horizontally between the strata. 
 But in all cases on reaching the sandstone, they are as 
 far as is yet known, unproductive. They are follow- 
 ed when they are found to yield three inches of galena, 
 that being the least vein it is thought worth while to 
 pursue through rock, and it is very rare indeed that a 
 continuous vein is found exceeding one foot in thick- 
 ness. The horizontal direction of fissures is mere 
 uniform ; those producing the most ore almost univer- 
 sally running nearly east and west. Near Mineral 
 Point some fissures running north and south, produce 
 good ore, but they are for the most part horizontal 
 beds (of limited width) between the strata, and out of 
 these directions it is rare to find a productive fissure. 
 The smelters think they can distinguish the ores that 
 are found in different fissures — that from an east and 
 west fissure being perfectly crystalised, of a smooth 
 surface, strise indistinct ; that from a north and south 
 fissure, of crystaline structure, with two sets of striae 
 very distinct, crossing each other at right angles ; and 
 the ore from a quartering fissure crystaline with many 
 sets of strias crossing each other obliquely ; and to 
 some extent I had an opportunity of proving their ob- 
 servations correct. The fissures appear to be limited 
 in length to within a few hundred feet, and to lie in 
 ranges, which extend at right angles with the direction 
 of the fissures. In the neighborhood of Mineral Point, 
 many of these fissures are opened and mined, and the 
 • diggings' are seen to extend, with little irregularity, 
 in a north and south belt, that part to the west produ-
 
 GEOLOGY MINERAL DISTRICT. G3 
 
 cing lead ore ; half a mile to the east the fissures con- 
 taining copper ore, and still further east, a mile or 
 more, hematite iron ore abounds in them. 
 
 '• The deepest shafts that have been sunk in these 
 fissures, are about ninety feet ; and at Mineral Point 
 they may be worked to that depth without the water 
 being troublesome. But as these deep shafts are sunk 
 on the highest ground, the bottom of them hardly 
 reaches the sandstone. 
 
 '• The copper ore is similarly situated to the lead 
 ores, either in wide fissures or in thin veins running: 
 through the rock. As many as four of the little veins, 
 not exceeding two inches in thickness, have been found 
 running about east and west on different parts of the 
 raining ground. The ore in these is a mixture of the 
 sulphuret and carbonate. Besides these, which are 
 not considered important, there is a large fissure, in 
 places fourteen feet wide, that has been traced about a 
 quarter of a mile. It is on the old Ansley tract, and 
 extends in a westerly direction towards Mineral Point, 
 For about the depth of fifteen feet, the fissure was 
 found to be filled with an iron ochreous substance nam- 
 ed • gossan,' and lumps of sulphuret and carbonate ol 
 copper mixed in it. Below this depth is clay, with a 
 little ore scattered through it. The lumps above were 
 of all sizes, up to two hundred pounds weight. No 
 shafts w^ere ever sunk to prove this fissure at greater 
 depths ; but there is every reason to suppose that it 
 ■will be found productive in other parts, besides the 
 strip near the surface. The little rock veins prove 
 that the ore belongs to the formation as much as the
 
 64 GEOLOGY LIMESTONE DISTRICT. 
 
 lead ores, and in whatever way it may iiavc been 
 brought up from below, it i? likely to have formed 
 other deposites in the fissure worth looking after. 
 
 '-'It is difficult to form any correct judgment con- 
 cerning the per centage of these ores, particularly the 
 gossan, for they are continually changing their rela- 
 tive proportions of copper, iron and clay, so that a 
 few analyses would not decide the matter. According 
 to the report of Dr. Owen, three average specimens of 
 the lump ore yielded respectively, 23, 24^, and 35.7 
 per cent, of copper ; and in the same report, he says 
 that the gossan yields, by analyses, from six to nine 
 per cent, of pure copper. 
 
 " Other discoveries of copper ore have been made 
 in the Territory, though none of them have yet been 
 proved important. I saw ore of good quality from the 
 Blue river country, and visited a mine, a thin rock 
 vein, near the Peckatonica. about five miles north of 
 the Illinois line. In this neighborhood I discovered 
 some fine clay, apparently of excellent quality, which 
 may be of no little importance in making fire brick 
 for linings for the furnaces. It is an alluvial bed, six 
 feet thick, at Winslow, on the Peckatonica, where it 
 crosses the State line." 
 
 IV. The next and last Geological district, into 
 which this Territory may be naturally divided, should 
 be called the Limestone district, as it is composed al- 
 most exclusively of limestone rock, and extends from 
 Lake Michigan west, to the other districts mentioned. 
 This same great deposite of calcareous rock extends
 
 GEOLOGY— LIMESTONE DISTRICT. G5 
 
 ^i^Jtli into Illinois, where it dips under the rocks of 
 die "coal formation," and north it continues along the 
 lake shore as far as Mackina. It generally occurs in 
 thin, compact layers or strata, disposed horizontally. 
 or nearly so, of a light grey color, and affording very 
 pure lime when burned. At other places it is of a 
 dirty yellow color, filled with minute pores, and easily 
 decomposed, when exposed to the air and weather. It 
 is very sparingly supplied with organic remains or 
 petrifactions, but such as are found, indicate this de- 
 posite to be the " carboniferous limestone" of geolo- 
 gists.* which forms the basis on which rests the coal 
 bearing rocks. It appears then, from these facts, that 
 we may not hope to add coal to the other sources of 
 mineral wealth with which a kind Providence has so 
 abundantly supplied us. There appears to be a ten- 
 dency in this rock to assume the form of irregular and 
 moderately elevated ridges extending throughout its 
 whole length, in a general northeast and southwest di- 
 rection, or parallel to all the geological formations of 
 the western country. It contains disseminated masses 
 of sulphuret of zinc, and iron pyrites — the latter at 
 some places in great abundance. Cavities are also 
 found filled with bitumen, resembling the petrolium or 
 Seneca oil ; but there are no localities known from 
 which this substance can be obtained in any considera- 
 ble quantities. It contains also some beds of gypsum, 
 or plaster of Paris, which upon farther exploration, it 
 
 * It is probable that this great Umestone deposite will be found, 
 upon further examination, to belong to different formations or 
 eras ; allj however, below, or older than the coal measures?.
 
 66 MINERALOGY. 
 
 is believed, may prove to be valuable. It is often re- 
 ported that water limestone exists in Wisconsin, but 
 the truth of such reports is not yet known. The hori- 
 zontal layers afford an excellent building material, and 
 would answer admirably for pavements, hearth stones. 
 &c. &c. It occasionally is found with sufficient firm- 
 ness of texture to receive a high polish ; and is then 
 called marble. There are occasionally some indica- 
 tions of copper ore in this limestone, but not sufficient 
 to induce the belief that it may exist in such abundance 
 as to be of economical value. 
 
 Governor Dodge, in his message to the legislature, 
 in December, 1840, recommended that measures be 
 taken to procure a geological survey of the Territory 
 and a bill was introduced by Mr. Janes, but was post- 
 poned, on account mainly, of the great expense which 
 it would require, at a time when the resources of the 
 Territory were extremely limited. It is believed how- 
 ever, that this very desirable work may be accomplish- 
 ed, by the employment of only one geologist, and al- 
 lovv^ing ample time for its completion ; thus making the 
 annual expense so small as to be entirely within the 
 means of the Territory. In this way, the most impor- 
 tant localities being first examined, the whole may be 
 accomplished in a few years, and a very great amount 
 of useful information collected relative to the hidden 
 riches of our soil. 
 
 The following is an enumeration of the minerals 
 heretofore found in this Territory, so far as they are 
 known to the author : but it undoubtedly falls very far
 
 MINERALOGY. 67 
 
 short of the actual number. So large a portion of our 
 Territory has never been visited by any mineralogist, 
 that we naay not be surprised to learn hereafter of the 
 existence of many rare and valuable minerals not now 
 known to exist here. 
 
 Sulphuretted Hydrogen. Several sulphur 
 
 springs have been noted by the surveyors of the public 
 lands, which are probably springs whose waters are 
 impregnated with this gas. 
 
 Bitumen, occurs in small cavities in the limestone 
 along the shore of Lake Michigan, both liquid and 
 solid. The liquid variety, known as petrolium, or 
 Seneca oil, has not however, been found in sufficient 
 quantity to be collected for medicinal purposes. It ap- 
 pears to result from the animal matter of the petrifac- 
 tions found in the rock. 
 
 Graphite, or black lead, was found by Schoolcraft, 
 at the Grand Portage, on the St. Louis river. It was, 
 however, of inferior quality : it formed a vein between 
 the vertical layers of argillite. 
 
 Coal. — Small fragments of coal, associated with 
 bituminous shale, or coal slate, have been found on the 
 shore of Lake Michigan, at Milwaukee and elsewhere : 
 and some indications of coal are said to exist in the 
 vicinity of Lake Winnebago. The rocks in Wiscon- 
 sin, so far as they have been examined, prove (as be- 
 fore mentioned) to be older than the coal formation. 
 and lie below it ; consequently it would be useless to 
 search for coal in these rocks. 
 
 Peat, is found in great abundance, in bogs through- 
 out the Territory. It is occasionally used for furl
 
 6S MINERALOGY. 
 
 here, by persons who have been accustonricd to its use- 
 in other countries. 
 
 Common Salt. — But few indications of salt have 
 yet been discovered. The surveyors have noted '-salt 
 licks" at some places, but they have led to no impor- 
 tant results. In Long's expedition, we have an ac- 
 count of a salt district near the northwest corner of 
 this Territory, and the country adjacent. " There are 
 doubtless, in this country, a great many salt springs, 
 especially below the Red Fork ; we saw none, but we 
 were informed that fine springs existed on Big and 
 Little Saline rivers, on the ' Two Rivers,' &:c., where 
 the salt is found in white efflorescences, so as to be an- 
 nually collected there by the colonists of Pembina ; 
 notwithstanding which, at that settlement the price of 
 this article is from four to six dollars per barrel, weigh- 
 ing eighty pounds. One of the residents on this river 
 cleared five hundred dollars in one winter, by the salt 
 which he collected. Probably by boring to a small 
 depth, abundant springs would be obtained."* In this 
 remote region, however, salt would possess little value, 
 beyond what is necessary to supply the inhabitants in 
 its immediate vicinity ; especially as no direct coramu- 
 nication by navigable rivers exists between that coun- 
 try and the great markets of the world. 
 
 Sulphate of Barytes, or Heavy Spar, is said to 
 occur in narrow seams in boulders or fragments of 
 limestone on the Wisconsin river. 
 
 Calcareous spar, is abundant at the lead mines, 
 where it is called '• Tiff." It occurs in the limestone 
 
 * Long, 2cl Ex., vol. 2, p. 39.
 
 MINERALOGY. GO 
 
 tm. the Neenah. and various other places ; also at the 
 Grand Portage, on the St. Louis river, in perfectly- 
 transparent rhombs, exhibiting the phenomena of double 
 refraction. 
 
 Marble, or limestone having the requisite qualities 
 for being polished, and hence useful for many kinds of 
 ornamental work, is found in various places. Very 
 beautiful grave stones are manufactured from stone 
 quarried in the town of Genesee, in Milwaukee county. 
 The " blue limestone,"' in some places, makes a very 
 beautiful marble, the shells and corals giving it a pe- 
 culiarly fine character — hence called '- shell marble." 
 
 Stalactites, are found in limestone caverns near 
 Dubuque, on the Mississippi river. 
 
 Calcareous Tufa, incrusting moss, leaves, &c.j 
 near Milwaukee, on the canal ; in the gorge below the 
 Falls of St. Anthony : at the mouth of the Bois Brule, 
 and probably at many other places. 
 
 Septaria. — In the reddish brown clay soil along 
 the shore of Lake Superior, between the Montreal 
 river and La Pointe. 
 
 Gypsum, or plaster of Paris, is found in small 
 masses in the sand rock on Lake Superior ; and also 
 at Sturgeon Bay, in Brown county. At this last lo- 
 cality, it is believed that beds of sutficient extent to be 
 of workable value might, by proper explorations by 
 competent persons, be found. It has a fine flesh color, 
 and appears to be quite pure. 
 
 Quartz is very common. Fine specimens arc oc- 
 casionally found on the shores of the lakes and rivers. 
 In the '• mineral country" it occurs in gcodes an^l in
 
 70 MINERALOGY. 
 
 mammilary form. It is here called '-lead blossom," 
 and is one of the indications of the existence of lead 
 ore. Several of the numerous varieties have been no- 
 ticed — as milky quartz, on the pine ridges of the Up- 
 per Mississippi ; radiated quartz, on Lake Pepin : 
 granular quartz, at the Falls of Pickagama ; ferrugi- 
 nous quarts:, at Sandy Lake, and on the dry pine 
 1 idges in that vicinity ; hornstone, or chirt, very abun- 
 dant at the Blue Mounds, and other places in the lead 
 mine region ; chalcedony^ on the shore of Lake Supe- 
 rior, on the Mississippi, &c. &c. ; carneliaii, found 
 among the pebbles on the margin of lakes and rivers — 
 very abundant about Lake Pepin, ifec. ; Jasper is usu- 
 ally found with carnelian ; also agate, and agatized 
 wood, on the Mississippi. 
 
 Hornblende, is common in the primitive rocks, 
 and in boulders scattered over the transition country. 
 
 Garnets are occasionally found in the primitive 
 district. 
 
 Feldspar, being one of the constituent minerals of 
 granite, hornblende rock, &c., is found almost every 
 where in the Territory. 
 
 Tourmaline, on an island in Little Sturgeon Lake, 
 near the northwest part of the Territory, in granite 
 rock. It is in beautiful crystals, intensely black, and 
 about an inch long. Also at the outlet of Lac de 
 Flambeau, and various other places in detached rocks 
 or boulders. 
 
 Kyanite, in the primitive rocks at the outlet of Lac 
 dc Flambeau, or Torch Lake. 
 
 Mica, is one of the essential constituents of granite
 
 MINERALOGY. 71 
 
 3"nd mica slate, which are abundant throughout the 
 Territory, either hi situ or in boulders. • 
 
 Bituminous shale, in fragments, accompanying 
 joal, on the shore of Lake Michigan. 
 
 Red piperstone (or Catlinite) similar to that from, 
 the Coteau de Prairie, is found on the banks of Otter 
 Lake, near the source of the Mauvaise river. This 
 stone is soft and easily cut when first taken from the 
 quarries, but soon becomes hard, and receives a fine 
 polish when exposed to the air. It is much used by 
 the Indians in making tobacco pipes and various or- 
 naments. 
 
 Clay is very common, but none has been discov- 
 ered suitable for porcelain or the finer wares. It is 
 much used in the manufacture of brick, and the coarser 
 kinds of pottery. It is often so filled with pebbles of 
 limestone as to render it unfit for brick, as these ex- 
 pand when brought into contact with water after being 
 burned, and burst the brick into fragments. The brick 
 have a light yellowish-grey color, and buildings made 
 from them have a fine appearance without the addi- 
 tion of paint. 
 
 Magnetic Oxide of Iron. — A boulder, consisting 
 almost entirely of this ore, has been found near Mil- 
 waukee : it had been cracked and broken by the action 
 of the weather. The black sand so abundant on the 
 shores of all the Great Lakes, is the magnetic iron ore 
 reduced to powder, or sand, by the action of the waves. 
 Near Sheboygan, and at various other points, it exists 
 in large quantities ; and the people of Milwaukee sup- 
 ply themselves with this article from the lake shore in
 
 7"2 MINERALOGY. 
 
 ihe vicinity of the town. Near the mouth of the Boi5 
 Brule river, on Lake Superior, we are informed by- 
 Mr. Schoolcraft, that there is a layer a foot in thick- 
 ness, extending- along the shore of the lake some dis- 
 tance. This sand is thrown upon the beach by the 
 force of the waves, especially during heavy storms of 
 wind, and its great specific gravity prevents its being- 
 carried back by the diminished force of the returning 
 waves. 
 
 According to Mr. Bronson, there are near the Black 
 Jliver Falls "several natural mounds from one hun- 
 dred to three hundred feet high, apparently composed 
 entirely of iro?i stone, ore.^^ As to the mineral char- 
 acter and economical value of this ore, that appears to 
 exist here in such abundance, we are not informed. 
 
 LiMONiTE, or brown hematite iron ore, is found a 
 mile or more east from Mineral Point, associated with 
 copper ore. Fragments of this ore have also been 
 found on the ridges near Rock river, and on Sugar 
 river, in Green county, but nothing is known of the 
 quantity of ore to be found at these places. 
 
 Iron Pyrites, or sulphuret of iron, is found abun- 
 dantly in the limestone, along the shore of Lake Mich- 
 igan, and in rolled masses on the beach. Fine speci- 
 mens are dug from the hard blue and yellow clay 
 forming the lake shore at Milwaukee. It is associa- 
 ted with the copper ore at Mineral Point, in consider- 
 able quantities. The people of Wisconsin, like those 
 of many other countries have been deceived by the 
 bright golden, or bronze yellow color of this almost 
 worthless mineral into the belief that they had mado
 
 MINERALOGY. 73 
 
 a valuable discovery. It is used in the manufacture 
 of copperas and sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) and may- 
 be found here in sufficient quantities to be of value for 
 these purposes. 
 
 Zinc Blende, or sulphuret of zinc, has been found 
 in small masses, disseminated through limestone, at 
 Milwaukee, and on the Neenah river. It is found 
 abundantly in the mineral country, associated with the 
 lead ore ; in such quantities, in some instances, and so 
 intimately blended with the lead as to materially in- 
 jure its quality and value. It is called "black Jack,'' 
 by the miners. 
 
 Carbonate of Zinc, is also found associated in 
 the same way with the lead in the mineral country, 
 and is there known by the significant name of " dry 
 bone." Furnaces have been recently erected by some 
 enterprising individuals for the purpose of reducing 
 this ore of zinc, and from its abundance in the mine- 
 ral country, we may anticipate much from this new 
 source of wealth in Wisconsin. 
 
 Galena, or sulphuret of lead, exists in immense 
 quantities in fissures in the " geodiferous limestone," in 
 the counties of C4rant, Iowa, Dane and Green. About 
 thirty millions of pounds of pig lead have been made 
 in one year from these mines. 
 
 Carbonate of Lead? called "white mineral," is 
 found at the Blu-e Mounds, and some other places 
 among the mines. It is not found in sufficient quan- 
 tities to be worked as an ore of lead. 
 
 Native Copper. — Fragments of native (or pure) 
 copper, have been often found in various parts of the
 
 74 MINERALOGY. 
 
 Territory. A mass weighing over one hundred pounds 
 is said to have been found at Green Bay. Mr. C. 
 Trowbridge found on his farm, near Milwaukee, a 
 piece weighing thirty pounds. Three specimens were 
 found in excavating the canal in Milwaukee, in a gravel 
 bank some ten or twelve feet below the surface of the 
 ground, which together weighed about twenty pounds. 
 One of these is now safely deposited in the Cabinet of 
 Yale College, at New-Haven. Numerous smaller 
 specimens are occasionally found at Milwaukee, Ra- 
 cine, and other places. These fragments of copper 
 have evidently been transported from their native beds, 
 probably at Lake Superior, with the boulders of prim- 
 itive and trappean rocks, and by the same cause. They 
 are, therefore, not to be regarded as indicating the ex- 
 istence of copper mines where they may happen to be 
 found. The native copper of Lake Superior, within 
 the limits of Michigan, is found in veins traversing 
 trap, and the overlaying, conglomerate and sandstone 
 rocks — and it has been found in secondary limestone.* 
 There is, therefore, no geological reason why the na- 
 tive copper may not be found in situ in our Territory. 
 SuLPHURET OF CopPER, and Carbonate of Cop- 
 per. — These varieties are associated to constitute the 
 copper ore found in a vein or fissure in the vicinity of 
 Mineral Point, which is a mile or more in length, and 
 at other places in the mineral country. This ore. is 
 accompanied by lead and iron pyrites. After many 
 years' trial, the proprietors of these mines have dis- 
 covered a simple method of reducing- this ore, and a 
 
 * L. C. Beck— Final Report on the Mineralogy of N. Y., p. 420.
 
 NATURAL HISTORY. 75 
 
 large amount of copper is now annually produced from 
 them. Much of this finds its way to Milwaukee, and 
 is ihence sent down the lakes to New-York. 
 
 Silver is said to have been discovered in the vicin- 
 ity of La Pointe, on Lake Superior. 
 
 For the scientific naturalist, the sportsman and the 
 angler, Wisconsin affords a very interesting and highly 
 attractive field, A large proportion of the quadrupeds 
 of the United States have been found within her limits, 
 and hence it would be easier to enumerate what are 
 not found here, than to make a list of those that are. 
 Of all the other classes of animals we have our due 
 proportion. Several species of animals have already 
 been compelled to leave Wisconsin by the approach 
 of civilized men ; and others are driven into the re- 
 mote, unsettled portions, where they are probably des- 
 tined to remain but a short time before they will, 
 from the same cause, have to retire still further towards 
 the " far west." The industrious beaver has left traces 
 of its former existence on nearly every small brook ; 
 and horns of the elk are still occasionally found scat- 
 tered over the prairies. The buffalo has but recently 
 been driven beyond the Mississippi. As yet no bones 
 or teeth, of the extinct mammoth or mastodon, have 
 been discovered in Wisconsin. In the remote parts 
 of the country, about the source of the Mississippi, and 
 west of Lake Superior, several species have been found 
 that are not found in the southern parts of the Terri- 
 tory. Among those occasionally seen are, according 
 to Mr. Schoolcraft, the great white or polar bear, the
 
 76 NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 arctic fox, with fur as white as the snow in which it 
 lives ; and also the moose, rein-deer and the antelope. 
 The great white or northern owl, and three species of 
 grouse, are found there,* different from the two that 
 are so abundant in the woods and about the prairies at 
 the south. t A great many species of ducks and other 
 aquatic birds, swarm our lakes and livers. Pelicans 
 occasionally ascend the Mississippi and its branches 
 far into Wisconsin. Pigeons are abundant ; quails, 
 and a great variety of smaller birds, both useful and 
 injurious to the interests of man, are found. 
 
 Of reptiles, we have also a due proportion, espe- 
 cially of frogs. The rattle snake is the only poisonous 
 species. 
 
 Among the fish afforded by our lakes and rivers 
 are whiielish, salmon, sturgeon, perch, bass, suckers, 
 herring, pickerel or muskellonge, trout, catfish, sheep's 
 head, lawyers, and many others, nearly all, valuable as 
 articles of food for man. They are caught in large 
 quantities, and some are exported. The inhabitants at 
 the north, where game is scarce, and where agricul- 
 ture has not yet been introduced, live almost exclusively 
 upon fish, which are caught in vast quantities at the 
 mouths of the rivers. The excellent qualities of these 
 fish for the table are too well known to need descrip- 
 tion here. 
 
 *Tutrao Canadensis, Linn., spotted grouse. 
 
 phasianellus, Linn., sharp-tailed grouse. 
 
 saliceti, Temni., (T. albus Grael,) willow grouse, or 
 white patridge. 
 t The pheasant and prairie hen, (T. umbellus and T. cupido.)
 
 BOTANY. 77 
 
 Wisconsin abounds in plants of an interesting and 
 useful character, embracing all varieties, fionri the 
 stately pine tree, towering its head above the other 
 trees of the forest, to the humblest " wild wood flower." 
 The broad prairies are covered with a profusion of 
 flowers of every form and hue — which are changed 
 with every change of season. The eastern portion of 
 the Territory abounds in " hard wood"' timber — the 
 northern, in forests of pine, and the central and wes- 
 tern portions are comparatively destitute of trees. Here 
 however, are generally found a few trees, constituting 
 the " oak openings," and aflbrding sufficient wood and 
 timber for the purposes of the first settlers. 
 
 The following is a list of some of the more useful 
 or interesting plants of Wisconsin. It exhibits the sci- 
 entific name, its author, and the common name (if it 
 has any) of each species: 
 Clematis Virginiana, Linn., virgin's bower. 
 Anemone patens, Linn., earliest prairie flower. 
 Hepatic* triloba, Chaix,, liver-leaf 
 Ranunculus rhomboideus, Goldie. 
 
 fascicularis, Muhl. 
 Cultha palustris, Linn., cowslip. 
 Coptis trifolia, Salisb., gold thread, 
 Isopyrum biternatum, Torr. and Gr, 
 Aquilegia Canadensis, Linn, Columbine. 
 ActoBa rubra, Bigel., red cohosh. 
 
 alba, Bigel, white cohosh. 
 Hydrastis Canadensis, Linn., orange root, golden seal, 
 Menispermum Canadensis, Linn, moonsecd. 
 JeflJersonia diphylla, Pers.. twin leaf
 
 78 LIST OF PLANTS. 
 
 Podophyllum peltatum, Linn., May apple. 
 
 Nymphcea odorata. Ait., white pond lily. 
 
 Sarracenia purpurea, Linn., side saddle flower. 
 
 Sang-uinaria Canadensis, Linn., blood root. 
 
 Cakile maritima, Scop., sea rocket. 
 
 Polygala Senega, Linn., Seneca snake root. 
 
 Drosera rotundifolia, Linn., sun dew. 
 
 Claytonia Virginica, Linn., spring beauty. 
 
 Zanthoxylum Americanum, Mill., prickly ash, 
 
 Malva Houghtonii, Torr. and Gr. 
 
 Tilia Americana, Linn., bass wood. 
 
 V^itis aestivalis, Michx., grape, 
 
 Acer saccharinum, Linn., sugar maple. 
 
 Ceanothus Americanus, Linn., New-Jersey tea. 
 
 Vicia Americana, Muhl. 
 
 Lathyrus venosus, Muhl. 
 
 ochroleucus. Hook. 
 The three last, with other species, are called " wild 
 
 pea vines," and are very useful to the first settlers of 
 
 this new country as food for stock. * 
 
 Amphicarpa^a monoica, Tor. and Gr., wild bean. 
 
 Psoralia argophylla, Pursh. 
 
 esculenta, Pursh, Pommede Prairie. 
 
 Amorpha canescens, Nutt., lead plant. Said to indi- 
 cate the presence of lead bearing fissures, when 
 found growing in lines across the prairies in the 
 mineral country. This may be owing to some pe- 
 culiarity of the soil covering the fissures, which is 
 favorable for the growth of this interesting plant. 
 
 Petalostemon candidum, Michx. 
 violaceum, Michx.
 
 LIST OF PLANTS. «9 
 
 Phaca neglecta, Torr. and Gr. 
 
 Baptisia leucophsea, Nutt. 
 
 Apios tuberosa, MoBnch., Indian potatoe — used by the 
 
 aborigines as an article of food. 
 Prunus Americana, Marshall, plum. 
 Cerasus pumila, Mich., sand cherry. 
 
 Pennsylvanica, Lois., bird cherry. 
 Virginiana, D. C, choke cherry, 
 serotina, D. C, wild or black cherry. 
 Spiraea opulifolia, Linn., ninebark. 
 
 salicifolia, Linn., meadow sweet. 
 Geum rivale, Linn., water avens. 
 
 triflorum. Ph. 
 Potentilla fruticosa. 
 
 Fragaria Virginiana, Ehrh., strawberry. 
 Rubus strigosus, Michx., red raspberry. 
 
 occidentalis, Linn., black raspberry, 
 villosus, Ait., blackberry. 
 Crataegus coccinea, Linn., thorn apple. 
 
 punctata, Jacq., thorn. 
 Pyrus coronaria, Linn., crab apple. 
 
 arbutifolia, Linn., choke berry. 
 Americana, D. C, mountain ash. 
 Amelauchier Canadensis, Torr. and Gr., June berry, 
 
 shad berry, service tree, &c. 
 Echinocystis lobata, Torr. and Gr., wild cucumber. 
 Ribes Cynosbati, Linn., prickly gooseberry, 
 hirtellum, Michx.. swamp gooseberry, 
 rotundifolia, Michx., smooth gooseberry. 
 floridum, L'Her., wild blackcurrant, 
 rubrum, Linn., wild red currant.
 
 80 LIST OF PLANTS. 
 
 Opunlia vulgaris, Mill., prickly pear. 
 Coniosclinum Canadensis, Torr. and Gr. 
 Osmorhiza longistylis, D. C, sweet cicely. 
 Conium maculatum, Linn., poison hemlock. 
 Aralia racemosa, Linn., spikenard. 
 
 nudicaulus, Linn., wild sarsaparilla. 
 Corniis Canadensis, Linn., pudding berry. 
 Linnoea borealis, Gronov., twin flower. 
 Symphoricarpus racemosus, Michx., snow berry. 
 Lonicera flava, Linn., Yar. b., Torr. and Gr , yello\Y 
 honey suckle, 
 oblongifolia, Hooker. 
 Triosteum perfoliatum, Linn., wild coffee. 
 Sambucus Canadensis, Linn., common elder. 
 Vibernum opulus, Linn., high cranberry. 
 Mitchella repeus, Linn., partridge berry. 
 Valeriana ciliata, Torr. and Gray. 
 Fedia fagopyrum, Torr. and Gr. 
 Liatris cylindracea, Michx, 
 Aster sericeus, Vent, 
 azureus, Lindl. 
 Shortii, Hook, 
 laxifolius, Necs. 
 
 ptarmacoides, Torr. & Gr.,(chysopsis alba, Nutt.) 
 Solidago speciosa, Nutt. 
 
 Ohioensis, Riddell. 
 Hiddellii, Frank, 
 neglecta, Torr. and Gr. 
 Silphiura laciniatum, Linn., rosin weed : compass plant 
 so called, because it is believed by many that the 
 broad, and deeply lacinated leaves, always point
 
 LIST or PLANTS. SI 
 
 north and south, It is said to be useful to the travel- 
 ler in crossing the boundless prairies by enabling 
 him to keep his proper course. 
 Silphiura terebinthinaceum, Linn., prairie dock, 
 
 integrifolium, Michx. 
 Helianthus occidentalis, Riddell. 
 Coreopsis palmata, Nutt. 
 Tanaceum Huronense, Nutt. 
 Cacalia tuberosa, Torr. and Gr. (Non Nutt.?) 
 Cirsium Pitcheri, Torr. and Gr. 
 Troximon cuspidatum, Ph. 
 Lobelia eardinalis, Linn., cardinal flower. 
 Kalmii, Linn. 
 
 inflata, Linn., Indian tobacco. Thompson's 
 physic. 
 Campanula rotundifolia, Linn,, hair bell. 
 Arbutus uva-ursi, Linn., bear berry. 
 Gautiera procumbens, Linn., winter green. 
 Yaccinium resinosum, Ait., huckleberry. 
 
 Pennsylvanicun, Lam,, blue huckleberry. 
 Oxycoccus macrocarpus, Ph., cranberry. 
 Monotropa uniflora, Linn., Indian pipe, "spectre flower," 
 Fraxinus sambucifolia, Willd., black ash. 
 
 acuminata, Lam., white ash. 
 Asclepias obtusifolia, Michx., (Racine county.) 
 
 tuberosa, Linn , butterfly weed, ^. 
 
 Gentiana — (an undescribed species near G. crinita.) 
 Pulmonaria Virginica, Linn., Jamestown (or Jimson) 
 \Yeed ; introduced for medicinal purposes, by the 
 late Dr. Wm. P. Proud fit. 
 Gymnandria Houghtoniana, Torr. and Gr. (ined.) 
 
 e
 
 82 LIST OF PLANTS. 
 
 Euchroma coccinea, Nutt., painted cup. 
 
 grandiflora, Nutt. 
 Lysimachia revoluta, Nutt. 
 Dodecatheon media, shooting star. 
 
 Blitum capitatum, Linn., Indian strawberry, 
 Sheperdia Canadensis, Nutt. 
 Humulus lupulus, Linn , wild hop. 
 Corylus Americana, Walt., hazel nut. 
 Fagus sylvatica, Linn., beech. 
 
 Gluercus macrocarpa, burr oak, (and several other'sp's) 
 Betula papryacea. Ait., paper, canoe, or white birch. 
 Ulmus Americana, Linn., white elm. 
 
 fulva, Michx., slippery elm. 
 Celtis crassifolia, hackberry. 
 
 Juglans nigra, Linn., black walnut. 
 
 cinerea, Linn., butternut. 
 Carya, hickory, (several species.) 
 Pinus resinosa, Ait., red pine. 
 
 strobus, Linn., white pine, Weymouth pine. 
 
 nigra, Ait,, black spruce. 
 
 balsamea. Ait., silver fir. 
 
 Canadensis, Linn., hemlock. 
 
 pendula. Ait., tamarack. 
 Thuya occidentalis, Linn., arbor vitaB. 
 Taxus Canadensis, Linn., American yew. 
 , Juniperus communis, Linn., common juniper. 
 Virginiana, Linn., red cedar. 
 Iris lacustris, Nutt., (at Milwaukee.) 
 Habenaria Hookeriana, Torr. 
 
 orbiculata, Torr., (H. macrophylla Ph.) 
 Habenaria leucophea, Nutt.
 
 LIST OF PLANTS. 83 
 
 Orchis spectabilis, Linn., gay orchis. 
 Cypripedium candidum, (and three other species.) la- 
 dies' slippers. 
 Trillium nivale, Riddell. 
 Lilium Philadelphicum, Linn., et L. Canadensis, Linn. 
 
 lily. 
 Asparagus officinalis, Linn., wild asparagus, (introdu- 
 ced by early French.) 
 Arum triphyllum, Linn., Indian turnip. 
 Calla palustris, Linn. 
 Acorus calamus, Linn., sweet flag. 
 Carex chordorrhiza, Ehrh. 
 disperma, Dewey, 
 aurea, Nutt. 
 Houghtonii, Tor. 
 
 panicea, Linn., on prairies — evidently native, 
 limosa, Linn., and thirty-seven other species. 
 The carices are found in the wet, natural meadows, 
 in great abundance, and are annually cut by the far- 
 mers for hay. They are thus highly important aids 
 in the settlement of a new country, by enabling the 
 early inhabitants to support their teams and stock be- 
 fore an artificial meadow can be prepared. Many of 
 these natural meadows are occasioned by the dams of 
 the beaver, still visible in every part of the Territory. 
 Oryzopsis asperfolia, Michx., mountain rice grass. ^ 
 Trisetum purpurascens, Torr. 
 Holcus lanatus, Linn., soft grass. 
 Hierochloa borealis, R. and S., Seneca grass— sweet 
 
 scented grass. 
 Glyceria fluitans,' R. Brown, manna grass.
 
 84 CLIMATE. 
 
 Zizania aquatica, Lamb., wild rice, 
 Hordeum jubatum, squirrel tail grass. There are 
 fifty species of wild grass in Wisconsin, besides 
 the seven above named. 
 Equisetum limosum, Linn, 
 hycmale, Linn, 
 varicgatum, Scleicher. 
 Isevigatum, Braun. 
 The number of plants that have been delected and 
 examined in the county of Milwaukee, without inclu- 
 ding mosses, and the lower orders of Cryptogamce, 
 
 is 678 
 
 In adjoining counties, &c., besides the above. 97 
 In northern Wisconsin, besides the above, 
 (collected by Dr. Houghton and others) 82 
 
 Total number of species already detected. . 857 
 
 But as much of the country has not been visited by 
 
 any botanist, we may fairly presume that this is far 
 
 from being the actual number, and that Wisconsin is 
 
 as rich in plants as other States in the same latitude. 
 
 From the observations made at the military posts 
 within the Territory, we are able to form a pretty 
 correct estimate of the climate of Wisconsin ; and by 
 comparison with the observations reported to the Re- 
 gents of the University of the State of New- York, we 
 find a remarkable similarity between the climate of 
 Wisconsin and that of the interior and western coun- 
 ties of that State. But as two of these military stations 
 are much north of the most populous portions of Wis-
 
 CLIMATE. 85 
 
 consin, it is evident that the southern portions must 
 have a climate rather warmer than New-York ; and 
 this accords with the first impressions of most persons 
 of intelligence and observation, who have had the op- 
 portunity of direct comparison. One person remarks 
 that he passed the 23clj 24th and 25th of June in the 
 heart of the far famed Genesee country, and then not 
 one of the farmers in a dozen had hoed his corn the 
 first time. On the third of July, he landed at Milwau- 
 kee, and along the road west from that place, corn 
 was about •' tasselling out." and was at least five weeks 
 in advance of the same crop in western New-York. 
 Persons therefore, who are familiar with the climate 
 of New- York, may form a pretty correct judgment of 
 that of Wisconsin. 
 
 The winter of 1835-6, was almost entirely without 
 snow, the ground being frozen very deep, became worn 
 quite smooth on the roads so that teams were able to 
 do about as much work with waggons, as would have 
 been done with good sleighing. This kind of winter 
 is, however, rare, as none like it has been seen since, 
 unless indeed, the present one should prove to be such. 
 Snow usually falls in December, sufficient for sleigh- 
 ing — is carried ofi^by the '• January thaw," but is soon 
 restored, and lasts until March. The winter of 1842-3, 
 was distinguished by the unusual quantity of snow, 
 and the great length of time it remained on the ground. 
 Sleighing commenced about the tenth of November, 
 and continued until about the same time in April, be- 
 ing five months. 
 
 The following table, showing the day when the
 
 86 CLIMATE. 
 
 Milwaukee river was closed with ice each fall, and 
 when the ice left in the spring, will serve to show the 
 duration of our winters, and how they vary in different 
 years : 
 Closed Nov. 20, 1836. Opened Apl. 13, 1837—144 days 
 
 " 25, 1837. 
 
 
 Mar. 25, 1838—121 
 
 " 15, 1838. 
 
 
 " 27, 1839—132 
 
 " 21,1839. 
 
 
 " 6, 1840—106 
 
 " 17, 1840. 
 
 
 " 24, 1841—127 
 
 " 25, 1841. 
 
 
 " 9, 1842—104 
 
 " 17, 1842. 
 
 
 April 14, 1843—148 
 
 " Dec. I, 1843. 
 
 
 1844 
 
 ean, Nov.20. 
 
 n 
 
 Mar. 26. 126 
 
 The Great Lakes have a very sensible effect upon 
 our climate, by equalizing the temperature — making- 
 the summers less hot and the winters less cold than 
 they would otherwise be. Hence the difference be- 
 tween the mean temperature of winter and summer at 
 Fort Snelling, on the Mississippi river, is about six 
 and a half degrees more than at Fort Howard, at the 
 southern extremity of Green Bay ; and at this place 
 the influence of the lakes is but partially felt. Obser- 
 vations taken at more favorable stations, on the imme- 
 diate shore of the lakes, would undoubtedly show a 
 much greater difference. About the same difference 
 is observed when we compare the mean temperature of 
 winter and spring at the two places ; the change from 
 winter to spring being more sudden in the interior 
 than on the lakes. This fact is also inferred from the 
 vegetation of spring, for it has been ascertained by 
 direct observation, that in the town of Lisbon, only
 
 CLIMATE. 87 
 
 fifteen miles from the lake at Milwaukee, the early 
 spring flowers show themselves about ten days earlier 
 than on the lake. In the spring, vegetation, in places 
 remote from the lakes, shoot up in a very short time, 
 and begin to show their petals, while on the lake shore 
 the cool air retards them and bring them, more gradu- 
 ally into existence. 
 
 Another effect of the lakes is, as perhaps might be 
 expected, to create a greater degree of humidity in the 
 atmosphere, and hence a greater quantity of rain. This 
 is also proved by comparing the observations at the 
 two posts above referred to ; there being annually about 
 eight and a half inches more at Green Bay than on 
 the Mississippi. It is however remarkable, that these 
 lakes do not afford more fogs than are found to exist 
 about them. At Milwaukee, on the shore of Lake 
 Michigan, not more than three or four foggy days 
 occur in a whole year. Fogs are often seen lying 
 on the surface of the lake itself, and steamboats and 
 other vessels navigating Lake Michigan, often experi- 
 ence inconvenience from them, but they appear to be 
 dissipated upon approaching land. 
 
 More than two hundred days in each year are fair, 
 taking one year with another ; and if we add sucii as 
 are not quite '• fair," but only partially cloudy, it will 
 be seen that we have an atmosphere of great purity 
 and clearness. This is also proved by direct observa- 
 tion, for it is remarked by strangers that, owing to the 
 clearness of the air, objects can be seen at a greater 
 distance than usual, or appear to be near at hand. 
 IV hen in fact thev are at a considerable distance.
 
 88 CLIMATE. 
 
 That the citizens of Wisconsin have occasional op- 
 portunity of witnessing some of the more interesting 
 and remarkable phenomena of nature, is shown by 
 the following extract from the Southport Telegraph : 
 
 '• Water Spout. — The interesting phenomenon of 
 the Water Spout, was witnessed by quite a number of 
 the citizens of this village, on the morning of Sunday, 
 August 20, 1843. The attention of the beholders was 
 first directed to a dense dark cloud hanging over Lake 
 Michigan, distance, apparently, some ten or twelve 
 miles in a southerly direction from this place. From 
 this cloud was seen converging downwards a thick 
 mass of vapor, trumpet shaped, or in the form of a 
 pyramid reversed ; at the same time the surface of the 
 water below appeared greatly agitated, bubbling, foam- 
 ing, and rising up in hundreds of little sharp pyramids 
 of various heights, until at length an aqueous cone 
 rising upward, united with the descending one — form- 
 ing a volume apparently some two hundred feet high» 
 and exhibiting the form of two funnels united at the 
 little ends ; the point of uniting between the ascend- 
 ing and descending cone being much the smallest part 
 of the column. In the middle of the column was seen 
 what may be termed a transparent tube through which 
 the water appeared to rush with a spiral motion, and 
 with a velocity truly wonderful. Such was the appa- 
 rent force and power of the current of water rushing 
 through the tube or column, that a misty vapor was 
 thrown off at a considerable distance around, not unlike 
 such as is seen in the presence of huge cataracts. The 
 different shades and colorings reflected by the combi*
 
 CLIMATE. S9 
 
 nation of water and clouds, formed a most magniticcnt 
 and sublime scene in this wonderful exhibition of na- 
 ture. It should be mentioned, that as soon as the Wa- 
 ter Spout above described had formed, a second one 
 made its appearance, in the immediate vicinity of the 
 first — exhibiting the same process of formation, and in 
 all respects similar to the first. A third also commen- 
 ced its formation from the dense cloud above, but failed 
 to unite or meet with any column of water from below. 
 The time from the first appearance of the Water Spout 
 we have described, to the period of their disappearance, 
 Avas about twenty-five minutes. The wind blew at the 
 same time moderately from the N, E., and the temper- 
 ature of the weather was not far from forty-five de- 
 grees. The appearance which we have been imper- 
 fectly describing, was not only seen on the morning 
 before stated by many persons of this village, but also 
 by many individuals residing on the lake shore for 
 many miles south of this place." 
 
 The following table exhibits the results of the ob- 
 servations made in Wisconsin, as iar as they have 
 come to the knowledge of the author. Those at Mil- 
 waukee and Fort Winnebago, are not sufficiently ex- 
 tensive to be of much value:
 
 90 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 TABLE OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVA- 
 TIONS IN WISCONSIN. 
 
 
 Fort 
 
 Fort 
 
 Fort 
 
 Fort 1 Mil- 
 
 
 Howard. 
 
 Crawf'd 
 
 Snelli'g 
 
 Winne- waukee 
 
 
 9 years. 
 
 2 years. 
 
 8 years. 
 
 bago. 
 
 1 year. 
 
 Latitude 
 
 44.40 
 
 43.03 
 
 44.53 
 
 43.35 
 
 43.03 
 
 Longitude 
 
 87. 
 
 90.53 
 
 93.8 
 
 89.30 
 
 87.48 
 
 Mean an. Temp. _ 
 
 44.92 
 
 45.52 
 
 45.83 
 
 
 
 " of winter. . 
 
 19.77 
 
 19.90 
 
 15 95 
 
 
 
 '^ of summer. 
 
 69.85 
 
 70.79 
 
 72.75 
 
 
 
 Dif sum'r& wint'r 
 
 50.05 
 
 50.89 
 
 56.60 
 
 
 
 '' \vint'r&- spring 
 
 24.10 
 
 25.38 
 
 30.83 
 
 
 
 Maximum 
 
 100. 
 
 96. 
 
 98. 
 
 
 94. 
 
 Minimum 
 
 -38. 
 
 -28. 
 
 -29. 
 
 
 -24. 
 
 Mean an. range. _ 
 
 123. 
 
 120. 
 
 119. 
 
 
 
 •' tem. of Jan'y. 
 
 18.14 
 
 19.72 
 
 13.58 
 
 
 19.85 
 
 " " Feb'ry . 
 
 20.16 
 
 2193 
 
 18.66 
 
 
 20.50 
 
 " " March _ 
 
 31.19 
 
 32.48 
 
 32.12 
 
 
 31.20 
 
 " " April ._ 
 
 43.28 
 
 43.92 
 
 46. 
 
 
 
 '-' ''- May... 
 
 57.13 
 
 59.45 
 
 62.11 
 
 
 
 "■ " June... 
 
 68.38 
 
 68.57 
 
 70.83 
 
 
 
 " " July... 
 
 72 25 
 
 72.40 
 
 75.47 
 
 
 70. 
 
 " " August . 
 
 68.83 
 
 71.41 
 
 T1.98 
 
 
 67. 
 
 " '• Septem'r 
 
 57.61 
 
 6150 
 
 59.41 
 
 
 65.40 
 
 " " October. 
 
 47.51 
 
 45.45 
 
 49.27 
 
 
 43. 
 
 " " Novcm'r 
 
 34.29 
 
 33.06 
 
 33.36 
 
 
 35.60 
 
 " " Decem'r 
 
 21.00 
 
 18.04 
 
 15.60 
 
 
 28.45 
 
 An. av.rain (inch's) 
 Wind N. 
 
 38.83 
 
 29.54 
 
 30.32 
 
 31.88 
 
 34.62 
 
 8 
 
 71 
 
 36 
 
 
 16 
 
 N.W. 
 
 8 
 
 92 
 
 78 
 
 
 80 
 
 N.E. 
 
 138 
 
 13 
 
 29 
 
 
 89 
 
 E. 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
 
 19 
 
 S. E. 
 
 1 
 
 53 
 
 49 
 
 
 54 
 
 S. 
 
 5 
 
 74 
 
 44 
 
 
 8 
 
 S.W. 
 
 193 
 
 40 
 
 75 
 
 
 72 
 
 W. 
 
 10 
 
 IS 
 
 40 
 
 
 27
 
 GENERAL HEALTH. 91 
 
 The salubrity of the climate, the purity of the at- 
 mosphere, and of the water, which is usually obtained 
 from copious living springs ; the coolness and short 
 duration of summer, and the dryness of the air during 
 winter, all conspire to render Wisconsin one of the 
 most healthy portions of the United States. The wet 
 meadows, marshes and swamps, are constantly sup- 
 plied with pure water from springs ; and as they are 
 not exposed during summer to a burning heat, they do 
 not send forth those noxious and deleterious qualities 
 so much dreaded in more southern and less favored 
 latitudes. Many of our most flourishing towns and 
 settlements are in the immediate vicinity of large 
 swamps and partially overflown meadows, yet no in- 
 jurious effects upon the general health are produced 
 by them. 
 
 It has usually been found, in making new settle- 
 ments in the western wilderness, that as the forests 
 are cleared away and the surface thereby exposed to 
 the direct influence of the sun and winds, a deleterious 
 effect is produced on the general health — the decaying 
 vegetable matter being thus suddenly made to send 
 forth its malarious qualities. But in Wisconsin no 
 such result is apprehended, or can be produced, for a 
 large proportion ^of the country consists of oak open- 
 ings and prairie, and may therefore be considered as 
 already cleared. The removal of the few remaining 
 " burr oaks" cannot have the same effect upon the soil 
 as the cutting down of the dense forests of the other 
 States. And besides this, the fires that have annually 
 raged over the surface, often kindled purposely by the
 
 02 LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 
 
 Indians, on their hunting excursions, have prevented 
 that rapid accumulation of vegetable matter which is 
 always found in deep shady woods where the fires do 
 not so often penetrate. 
 
 It is believed that the facts here stated, will be suffi- 
 cient to satisfy the reader of the truth of the opinion 
 expressed by our most intelligent physicians, that Wis- 
 consin is, and will continue to be, one of the most 
 healthy places in the world. 
 
 The following table of the latitude north, and lon- 
 gitude west, from Greenwich, of places within this 
 Territory, is given here in this form, as affording 
 greater convenience of reference than if given under 
 the head of the several places. The observations were 
 made by officers of the United States — principally by 
 Mr. Nicollett. That they are not in all cases precisely 
 accurate, is shown by the difference of the observations 
 of different persons at the same places ; as at Prairie du 
 Chien (Fort Crawford) and the mouth of the Montreal 
 river : 
 
 Places. Latitude. Longitude. 
 
 ON THE MISSISSIPPI ElVER. 
 
 Fort Crawford 43^03^31" 90^ 52' 30'' 
 
 Prairie du Chien 43 03 06 9109 19.5 
 
 Island at mouth of upper Iowa. 43 29 26 91 10 00 
 
 Hokah (Root) river 43 47 00 91 11 30 
 
 Prairie la Crosse ._ __43 49 00 91 14 00 
 
 Sappah (Black) river, (opposite 
 
 old mouth) 43 57 14 91 24 00 
 
 Mount Trempaleau 44 01 07 91 30 30
 
 LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 93 
 
 Places. Latitude. Longitude. 
 
 Miniskah (White water) river. .44 12 36 91 51 15 
 
 Wazi-oju (Embarrass) river 44 13 20 91 50 30 
 
 Roque's(-2i miles bl.Chip'ariver)44 23 24 92 00 00 
 
 Northern extremity L. Pepin 44 58 08 
 
 Clear Water(nw cor. L. Pepin.. 44 36 20 92 25 00 
 Reminicha(Montagne laGrange 
 
 upper end of Lake Pepin)__.44 33 30 92 31 GO 
 
 Lahontan(canoe or cannon)river.44 34 00 92 32 00 
 
 Mouth of the St. Croix___ 44 45 30 92 45 00 
 
 " St. Peters. __ 44 52 46 93 04 54 
 
 " " 44 53 49 93 08 07 
 
 Falls of St. Anthony 44 58 40 93 10 30 
 
 Ishkode-wabo (Rum) river 45 15 00 
 
 Karishon or Undiz(Crow) river.45 16 00 
 St. Francis (Wicha-niva)river. .45 20 30 
 
 Magadiwin or War Creek 45 18 14 93 57 30 
 
 Kawakomick. or Clear Water riv.45 24 25 94 07 30 
 Round Island at the lower end of 
 
 Osakis rapids. _ 45 35 00 94 12 00 
 
 Osakis river, at mouth 45 35 35 94 12 00 
 
 Watab river 45 37 00 94 14 30 
 
 Pekushino river 45 46 50 94 18 30 
 
 Wabezi (Swan) river, 2^ miles 
 
 above the mouth 45 54 30 94 22 00 
 
 Omoskos, or Elk river 46 04 00 94 16 00 
 
 Nokays river 46 10 30 94 18 45 
 
 Kagi-wigwam (Crow wing) riv.46 16 50 94 22 45 
 
 Nagadjika river (op. mouth) 46 26 00 
 
 Pine river 46 35 00 
 
 Willow river 46 40 30 93 22 30
 
 94 LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 
 
 Places. Latitude. Longitude. 
 
 Sandy Lake river 46 47 10 93 09 30 
 
 Swan river 47 00 43 93 09 00 
 
 Kabikons (Little) Fails, at head. 47 14 50 93 26 45 
 
 Wanomon (Vermillion) river.. 47 11 04 93 32 30 
 
 Eagle's Nest, or Savannah 47 18 10 93 39 00 
 
 Leach Lake river, at mouth 47 14 00 93 43 00 
 
 Cass Lake 47 42 40 
 
 Cass Lake, (old trading house on 
 a tongue ef land near the en- 
 trance of the Mississippi 47 25 23 94 34 00 
 
 Pemidji Lake (Lac Travers) at 
 
 entrance of the Mississippi. .-47 28 46 94 50 30 
 
 Itasca Lake (Schoolcraft Island) 47 13 35 95 02 00 
 
 do .__ 47 10 00 95 54 00 
 
 ON LAKE SUPERIOR, &C. 
 
 Trading post near mouth of Pi- 
 geon river 47 58 00 89 52 00 
 
 Lapointe, (old trading house at 
 
 Madaline Island).- .46 47 10 90 53 30 
 
 do _ 46 44 31 
 
 Mouth of Montreal river 46 41 19 
 
 do do 46 33 00.5 90 44 30 
 
 Head of Montreal river 46 18 18 90 24 38 
 
 Trout Lake 46 04 0% 89 54 07 
 
 Lake Katakittekon (S. Island).. 46 07 31 89 20 13 
 
 Lac Brule 46 00 46 89 10 32 
 
 Mouth of Menomonee river 45 17 16.4 87 27 21 
 
 Racine 42 49 33 87 40 22 
 
 St. Louis river at Fond du Lac, 
 
 (24 miles above Lake) 46 39 50 94 15 20
 
 COUNTIES. 95 
 
 Places. Latitude. Longitude, 
 
 Head of Long Rapids, on the St. 
 
 Louis river 46 49 42 96 25 00 
 
 Head Kettle Rapids (St.Croixr.)45 54 40 
 
 Falls of the St. Croix._ 45 SO 10 92 40 00 
 
 SandyIsland(LakeoftheWoods)48 56 04 
 
 Mouth of Rainy Lake river 48 53 40 94 21 15 
 
 Island in Rainy Lake 48 35 35 
 
 Lower Portage of St. Croix 48 14 05 
 
 Fort Winnebago -._.43 35 00 89 SO 00 
 
 Fort Howard (Green Bay 44 40 00 87 00 00 
 
 The Territory was originally divided into three 
 counties — Brown. Iowa and Crawford. 
 
 Brown county included all the country east of a line 
 drawn due north and south through the portage be- 
 tween the Wisconsin and Neenah rivers. 
 
 Iowa embraced all west of that line and south of the 
 Wisconsin river ; and 
 
 Crawford occupied the remainder, or all west of 
 that line, and north of the Wisconsin. 
 
 The county of Milwaukee was separated from Brown, 
 and extended to range number nine on the west, and 
 to township twelve north. These were the only coun- 
 ties organised in 1836, when the Territory was sepa- 
 rated from Michigan ; but such has since been the rapid 
 settlement of the country, that it has been deemed ne. 
 cessary to set off new counties at almost every session 
 of the legislature, and the number is now increased to 
 twenty-three, as follows :
 
 96 COUNTIES. 
 
 Lake counties, or those bounded on Lake Michigan 
 — Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Washington, Mil- 
 waukee and Racine. 
 
 Interior eastern counties — Walworth, Rock, Jeffer- 
 son, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Calumet, Winnebago and 
 Marquette. 
 
 Interior western counties — Richland, Sauk, Portage. 
 Dane, Green and Iowa. 
 
 River counties, or those bounded on the Mississippi 
 — Grant, Crawford and St. Croix. 
 
 The counties of Brown, Fond du Lac, Jefferson, 
 Milwaukee, Racine, Rock and Walworth, are govern- 
 ed by what is called the " town system," being divi- 
 ded into towns, each having its separate organization, 
 and its own officers. The other counties are not divi- 
 ded into towns, and are under the management of three 
 Commissioners, elected annually by the people. 
 
 Having completed the foregoing general observa- 
 tions relative to the whole Territory, we now propose 
 to give, under appropriate heads, a more detailed de- 
 scription of the several counties, towns, rivers, lakes, 
 
 &c. «Stc.
 
 BROWN COUNTY 
 
 Is bounded on the north and east by the line between 
 Wisconsin and the State of Michigan ; on the south by 
 the counties of Manitowoc, Calumet and Winnebago : 
 and on the west by Portage • or the boundaries may 
 be traced more accurately, as follows : beginning on 
 the Neenah river, on the line between ranges nine and 
 ten west, on Buffalo lake, and running thence north, 
 to the Territorial boundary : thence east and south, 
 along said boundary, to the line between townships 
 twenty and twenty-one, extended to the middle of Lake 
 Michigan : thence west to the northwest corner of Win- 
 nebago county : thence south to the Neenah ; thence 
 up that river to the place of beginning. It is impos- 
 sible tu estimate the area of this county v/ith any de- 
 gree of certainty, on account of the territorial line be- 
 tween Wisconsin and Michigan not having been 
 finally established, and for the want of an accurate 
 survey of this part of the Territory. Brown county 
 was organised by an act of the legislature of Michi- 
 gan, passed October IG. 1818, and then included all 
 the country between Lake Michigan and a line drawn 
 due north, and south through the middle of the portage 
 7
 
 98 BROWN COUNTV. 
 
 between the Nccaah .and Wisconsin rivers. llie 
 counties of Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Calumet, Fond du 
 Lac, Marquette, Washington, Dodge,. Milwaukee,. Jef- 
 ferson, Racine, Walworth, Rock, and parts of Dane 
 and Portage, have been taken from Brown : and as 
 she is still a large county, it is probable that her limits 
 are destined ere long, to be further reduced, before her 
 boundaries are finally established. 
 
 Little is known of the geographical details of the 
 northern part of this county : it abounds in forests of 
 pine, or " pineries," and the streams are full of " fills" 
 and " rapids," affording an abundunce of water power,, 
 where this pine is now, in large quantities, manufac- 
 tured into lumber, shingles. &c., which find a ready 
 market at Milwaukee, and other ports on Lake Michi- 
 gan. The soil is said to be of excellent quality, and 
 is covered with dense forests — no openings or prairies 
 being found of any considerable extent in the county. 
 A singular feature in the topography of the country 
 is indicated by the course of the principal streams^ 
 which have a general southeasterly direction towards 
 Lake Michigan, except the Neenah, which, with 
 Green Bay, (an enlarged continuation of it) runs at 
 right angles to this course, and nearly parallel witli 
 the general course of the lake. The cause of this fea- 
 ture may be found in a rocky ridge extending along^ 
 the east side of the Neenah, giving direction to that 
 river, and " heading" all those that take their rise west 
 of it. This ridge extends southwest quite through the 
 Territory, and from it originates another system of 
 streams running east or southeast into Lake Michigan.
 
 STATISTICS. 09 
 
 The population of Brown county was, in tho 3'ear 
 
 1830 964 
 
 1836 _ 2,706 
 
 1838 _.. 3,084 
 
 1840 2,107 
 
 1842 2,140 
 
 The falling off in 1840, was not occasioned so much 
 by an actual dhninution of population, as by setting off 
 new counties from Brown. The county seat was cs- 
 tablished by a vote of the people, at Depere. 
 
 Seven post offices have been established in Brown 
 county — at Bridgeport, Depere, Duck Creek, Green 
 Bay, Kakalin, Little Chute and Mishwauka. There is 
 one weekly new-spaper published at Green Ba3\ 
 
 Agreeably to the United States census of 1840. there 
 Avere then in Brown county 475 horses, 1,053 neat 
 cattle, 85 sheep, 1,380 swine, 42 groceries and stores. 
 8 lumber yards, 1 tannery, 3 grist mills, and 25 saw 
 mills. The products of the preceding year (1839) 
 were as follows : 7,614 bushels of wheat, 137 bushels 
 of barley, 13,674 bushels of oats, 60 bushels of rye, 
 259 bushels of buckwheat, 3,695 bushels of Indian 
 corn, 27,508 bushels of potatoes, 1,707 tons of hay, 
 30,460 pounds of maple sugar, 2,316 barrels offish, 
 and 27,880 dollars worth of lumber. 
 
 The " town system" is adapted, and the county is 
 divided into three towns — Green Bay, Depere and Ka- 
 kalin. 
 
 The town of Kakalin embraces township twenty-
 
 100 nilOWN COUNTY. 
 
 otic, in the ranges eighteen, nineteen, twenty and twcn- 
 tvone ; and townships twenty-two, in ranges eighteen 
 and nineteen, south of the Neenah river, and the coun- 
 try on the west and north of said river, bounded as fol- 
 lows : on the west by the range line between ranges 
 seventeen and eighteen ; on the north by the north line 
 of the grant to Eleazer Williams, extended northwest- 
 wardly until it intersects that rangg line ; and on the 
 east and south by the Neenah. The Grand Kakalin 
 rapids, from which this town derives its name, is near 
 the middle of the town. It is the principal and most 
 noted rapids of the Neenah. In a space of eight thou- 
 sand six hundred feet, according to the survey of Capt. 
 Cram, there is a descent, over horizontal strata of lime- 
 stone rock, of forty-four feet. The river is here divi- 
 ded by about thirty small islands, into numerous small 
 channels. On approaching, and upon leaving these 
 rapids, it has a direction nearly northeast, but upon the 
 rapids it is deflected to a due east course. The Kon- 
 kapot creek enters the river from the south, at these 
 rapids : and a town, called La Fontaine, has been laid 
 out near their foot. Stone, of excellent quality for 
 building, may be quarried here in abundance. A 
 company has been incorporated, to construct a rail 
 road from this point to Lake Winnebago. Bridge- 
 port, or Waupakun, is situated at the mouth of Plum 
 creek, in this town, about two miles below Rapide de 
 Croche. From this place a survey has been made for 
 a canal to Cliffton, on Lake Winnebago. The length 
 of the route is fourteen miles and five hundred and 
 eighty feet: a feeder from the north branch of the Man-
 
 DEPERE. 101 
 
 itowoc river, nearly two miles in length, would be 
 necessary. The summit is eighty-five feet and fifty 
 one hundredths above Lake Winnebago, and the Mani- 
 towoc, at the head of the proposed feeder, is sixty-eight 
 feet above that lake. By the construction of this canal 
 the rapids of the Neenah would be avoided. The 
 population of the town of Kakalin, in 1842, was 251, 
 
 The town of Depere, as near as it can be ascertain- 
 ed from the laws relating to its boundaries and extent, 
 may be described as follows : begin on Lake Michi- 
 gan, on the line betwe^en townships twenty-three and 
 twenty-four, three miles from Kewaunee; thence west 
 to the west line of range twenty-three ; thence south 
 two miles ; thence west by the section line, the south 
 line of the private land claim number eleven, on the 
 east side of the Neenah, and the south line of the pri- 
 vate land claim confirmed to J. B. Labord, on the west 
 side of the river, extended westward to the west line of 
 range twenty ; thence south to the south line of town- 
 ship number twenty-two ; thence east twelve miles : 
 thence south six miles ; thence east to Lake iVlichigan, 
 on the south line of the county. The town is named 
 from the Rapides des Peres, on the Neenah river, six 
 miles above Green Bay, being the first of a series of 
 rapids extending along this river as far as Lake Win- 
 nebago. The descent on these rapids is not very con- 
 siderable, as the dam of six feet erected here by the 
 " Fox river Hydraulic Company," not only flows the 
 Depere, but also the Little Kakalin rapids. At these 
 rapids a town has been built, which is the seat of ju.?-
 
 lOi BROWN COUNTY. 
 
 ticG lor tlic county. It was laid out in 1835, on a level 
 ])laiii of considerable elevation above the river, with a 
 i-ood soil for gardens, and being- at the head of natural 
 navigation, and having a very extensive and valuable 
 waer power will probably continue to grow and prosper 
 until it becomes an important place. Good water is 
 obtained by sinking wells, to the depth of ten feet. A 
 village has been laid out at the mouth of the Kevvau- 
 nct\ on Lake Michigan, and a survey made, with a 
 view of constructing a harbor ; but no improvements 
 of much consequence have been made at this point. It 
 is suggested that a rail road from Kewaunee to Green 
 Bay, a distance of twenty-three miles, would save ves- 
 sels navigating Lake Michigan a voyage up Green 
 Bay and back, or, one hundred and eighty miles, by 
 making Kewaunee a " port" for Green Bay. Should 
 this ever be done, Kewaunee may become an impor- 
 tant point. 
 
 The population of Depere in 1842, was 3.20. 
 
 The town of Green Bay, may be considered as 
 embracing all of the county not included in the towns 
 of Depere and Kakalin. It takes its name from the 
 large bay, or arm of Lake Michigan, of the same 
 name, which is about one hundred miles long, with an 
 average breadth of about twenty miles, and a supposed 
 depth of five hundred feet. The towns of Navarino 
 and Astor, on the east side of the Neenah at its mouth, 
 constitute the north and south wards of the town or 
 village of Green Bay. The former is the original and 
 ancient town, Astor having been laid out in 1836, as
 
 GREEN BAY. lOS 
 
 •^n addition ov extension of Navarino. Green Bay i? 
 •one of the largest towns in the Territory : and it was 
 at one time believed that it would become the " com 
 mercial emporium'^ of the whole country as far as the 
 Mississippi. But daring the last few years it has not 
 increased so vapidly in population as its friends and 
 citizens had anticipated. Its location is one of great 
 "beauty of scenery, at the mouth of an important river. 
 but its commercial relations with the surrounding 
 country are in a great degree dependent upon the im- 
 provement of the navigation of that river. Should that 
 important work ever be accomplished, we may expect 
 to find Green Bay to hold its rank as one among the 
 principal towns or cities of Wisconsin. Its population 
 -was estimated in 1839, by the newspaper w-riters of 
 that day, at about two thousand, i^ccording to the 
 -census taken in 1842, it numbered seven hundred and 
 sixty-two, of which two bundled and seventy-nine were 
 in the south w^ard, or Astor, There are many good 
 buildings, spacious warehouses, excellent hotels, and 
 fine churches at Green Bay, and the country immedi- 
 ately around presents many fine farms, gardens, and 
 residences: but a short distance in the interior, the land 
 is but little occupied, affording many good locations 
 for the emigrant who wishes to make agriculture his 
 business. The bay and river afford a perfectly secure 
 harbor, without the aid of piers or any other works. 
 Steamboats of the largest class have landed at the 
 wharves and discharged their cargo and passengers. 
 Efforts arc now making to build a steamboat at Fond 
 du Lac. to run on the upper division of the Ncenah.
 
 104 BROWN COtfNTY. 
 
 in connection with the '^ Black Hawk" a small steam- 
 boat intended to ply between Green Bay and the foot 
 of the rapids. 
 
 Green Bay is 124 miles from Milwaukee, by way 
 of Fond dii Lac, or 114 by way of the United States 
 road, by Sheboygan and Manitowoc ; 34 miles from 
 Manitowoc, G3 from Sheboygan, and 60 miles from 
 Fond du Lac. 
 
 The following table exhibits the value of the goods 
 and articles of all kinds imported and exported to and 
 from Green Bay, as reported by Col. Abert, of the 
 U. S. Topographical Engineers, from 1836 to 1841, 
 inclusive ; 
 
 Years. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 1836 
 
 $392,'291 
 
 $ 56,660 
 
 1837 
 
 352^649 
 
 109,980 
 
 1838 
 
 395,345 
 
 72,265 
 
 1839 
 
 258,791 
 
 121,126 
 
 1840 
 
 248,819 
 
 148,943 
 
 1841 
 
 269,618 
 
 87,120 
 
 Fort Howard is a military post, opposite the town 
 of Green Bay, at the mouth of the Neenah. It is sit- 
 uated on a slight eminence, commanding a delightful 
 view of the town and harbor. 
 
 Several other towns have been laid out and estab- 
 lished by law in this county, but they were subse- 
 quently attached to one or other of the three towns 
 here described. Among them were Bay-Settlement, 
 Kewaunee, Perry, Howard and Pensaukee.
 
 MfiNOMONEE RIVtR. 105 
 
 There are several important rivers in Brown county, 
 which will now be noticed more in detail. 
 
 The Menomoxee, is quite a large river, that enters 
 Green Bay about its middle, and forms part of the 
 boundary of the county and Territory. Its course has 
 been very inaccurately represented on the old maps, 
 and some difficulties have resulted, in relation to the 
 boundary between Wisconsin and Michigan, requiring 
 the action of Congress to adjust, — so important is it for 
 map-makers to preserve accuracy in their work ! The 
 Menomonee river interlocks at its source, with some 
 tributaries of Lake Superior, and travellers often take 
 this route; but the great number of portages, and much 
 difficult navigation, renders it inferior to several oth- 
 ers. Nearly all the accurate information we have 
 relative to this stream, is derived from the government 
 survey, under Capt. Cram, who reports that " it pas- 
 ses a large volume of water into Green Bay at all 
 seasons of the year, and yet is subject to considerable 
 variations in height, consequent upon the fluctuations 
 of its principal tributaries, which are themselves of 
 considerable size. It is not navigable for any craft 
 except canoes, owing to difficult rapids, shoals and 
 falls. There are no less than eight portages, vary- 
 ing in length from one-eighth to one and a half miles , 
 where all the loading and the canoes besides, have to 
 be carried ^over upon the backs of the party. The 
 ascent of this river with canoes, containing not more 
 than three hundred pounds, is a task of incessant 
 toil and danger, and under the most favorable circum- 
 stances, requires fourteen clays, from its mouth to
 
 10(3 BROWN COUNTV. 
 
 iho entrance of the Wesacota or Brule river, with 
 a party. The time of descendinof through the same 
 extent, with canoes lightly loaded, is four days. The 
 banks of the river, as well as its islands, from its 
 mouth as far up as the Big Gluinnesec Falls, arc cov- 
 ered with an excellent growth of white and yellow pine 
 timber, which in process of time must become very 
 valuable. The bed of the river throughout, is exceed- 
 ingly rocky, and its banks in many places, particu- 
 larly at the falls and principal rapids, consists chiefly 
 of rock. It does not overflow its banks, which are 
 generally quite bold. The valley of the Menomonee, 
 contains much good land, and is, in the main, much 
 better than is generally supposed. The country adja- 
 cent to the upper part of the Menomonee, for about 
 thirty miles on both sides, has an exceedingly desolate 
 appearance ; all the timber, which was once pine, has 
 been consumed by fire, as far as the eye could reach on 
 every side. The prospect is one of a broken land- 
 scape of barren hills studded here and there with char- 
 red pine stubs, with scarce a living tree except the 
 second growth of white birch and poplar. The soil 
 of the hills is rocky and unfit for cultivation."' With- 
 in this " burnt district" there are two perpendicular 
 foils, about a mile apart, and about nine feet in height: 
 and at the termination of that district is the Big Gluin- 
 nessec Falls, where there is a difficult poitage of one 
 and a half miles. The total fall in this distance in the 
 river is one hundred and thirty-four feet. " This 
 amount," says Capt. Cram, "is divided into several 
 chutes, with intervening rnpids. The general aspect
 
 MENOMONEE lUVER. lOT 
 
 of this series of water falls is exceedingly picturesque : 
 at every change of the point of view, new and varied 
 beauties are perceived : but the lower fall of the series 
 is by far the most magnificent of all the cascades on 
 the Menomonee. Here the whole river* is seen in a 
 terrible phrenzy, dashing in mighty masses of foam 
 over a perpendicular wall of rocks forty feet in height."' 
 For some miles immediately below these falls, the 
 scenery is quite tranquil ; the river is wide? in many 
 places six hundred feet, and dotted here and there with 
 small islands, bearing a heavy growth of timber. The 
 ne.xt fall in descending the river is the Little Q,uiu- 
 nesec, where the fall is about thirty-five feet in an ex- 
 tent of two hundred and fifty feet, and the river is con- 
 tracted in width to about eighty-five feet. The bed and 
 banks are composed of slate rock. The name of these 
 two falls, Q-uinnescc, is derived from what the Indians 
 take to be smoke [spray] which is seen continually as- 
 cending from the bottom of the torrent high into the 
 air. The portage is short, but very steep and difficult. 
 A short distance below is Sandy Portage, a beautiful 
 rapid about a mile in extent, with a perpendicular fall. 
 Sturgeon Falls, so called because the sturgeon in as- 
 cending the river are stopped here and collect in great 
 numbers, is the next below Sandy Portage. The fall 
 is thirteen and three-fourths feet, in a distance of one 
 thousand feet. The river is here also contracted to 
 eighty feet in width, and rushes through a straight gap 
 or clifT, the summit of which is one hundred feet above 
 the water below the falls. It is quite impossible for 
 canoes, or even sturgeon to pass these falls in safely.
 
 108 BROWN COUNTY. 
 
 The scenery is picturesque, and the abundance of stui'- 
 ^^eon causes it to be much visited by the Indians. The 
 Cluavcr Rapids and portage, some miles below, re- 
 quires an hour for the passage. The Pemenee Falls, 
 (elbow.) so called from a crook in the river just below, 
 has a fall of eight and eighty-four hundredths feet, in a 
 distance of eight hundred and thirty-three feet, exclu- 
 sive of a short rapid immediately above the principal 
 chute. The passage for the water in its narrowest 
 place, is fifty feet wide. A slight rapids, called White 
 Rapids, lies between the Pemenee and the Grand Ra- 
 pids, where for two miles the water is shoal, and pas- 
 ses over a smooth bottom of flat stones. Below these 
 are two slight rapids, known as Chappeau's and the 
 Menomonee rapids. When this country becomes 
 densely populated, the various rapids along the river 
 will, in consequence of the water power they afford, 
 become the sites of important villages and manufactur- 
 ing towns. 
 
 The Neenah, or as it was formerly called, the Fox 
 river of Green Bay, is one of the most important riv- 
 ers in Wisconsin, extending as it does, nearly half 
 across the Territory, and almost touching at the por- 
 tage, the waters of another river, by which navigation 
 may, with a little improvement, be extended across the 
 country from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi. It 
 takes its rise in Lake Sarah, Portage county, and runs 
 in a direction a little south of west, (almost directly op- 
 posite its general course) for eighteen miles, towards 
 the Wisconsin, as if with the intention of entering: that
 
 NEENAH RIVER. 100 
 
 river ; but owing to some unaccountable freak of na- 
 ture, it here, when within one and a half miles of that 
 stream, makes a sudden turn to the north, and soon 
 assumes its general course towards Green Bay. From 
 the portage to Lake Winnebago, through which thi3 
 river passes, it winds about among extensive marshes 
 covered with tall grass and wild rice. Below the lake 
 there is a succession of rapids, that require an expendi- 
 ture of about four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 
 to render the river navigable. At the Winnebago Ra- 
 pids, near Lake Winnebago, there is a descent of seven 
 feet and fifty-four hundredths, in a distance of seven 
 thousand seven hundred feet. At the Grand Chute, 
 nine miles above the Grand Kakalin, there is a fall of 
 twenty-nine feet and sixty-eight hundredths, in a dis- 
 tance of eight thousand five hundred and twenty-five 
 feet. At the head of the chute the blufTs are very 
 steep and high. At the Little Chute, three miles above 
 the Grand Kakalin, there is a descent of thirty-one feet 
 andnwenty-two hundredths, in a distance of nine thou- 
 sand two hundred feet ; and the banks are high and 
 steep near the head of the chute. At the Grand Ka- 
 kalin, there is a fall of forty-four feet in a distance of 
 eight thousand six hundred feet. At the Rapide do 
 Croche, four miles below the Grand Kikalin, the fall 
 of the river is only one foot and seventeen hundredths, 
 in a distance of thirteen hundred feet ; but the " crook" 
 is so short, and the current so rapid, and sets so strong- 
 ly against the southern bank, that a boat would expe- 
 rience great difficulty in passing, and would invaria- 
 riably incur the risk of being forced against the shore
 
 110 BROWN COUNTY. 
 
 before it could turn the elbow or crook, The Little 
 KakaJin, and Depere Rapids, are already improved, 
 by the dam at Depere. of six feet in height. The 
 whole descent in these rapids is about one hundred and 
 twenty feet, and if we add one foot per mile for ihe de- 
 scent of the river between the rapids, we find Lake 
 Winnebago one hundred and sixty feet above Lake 
 Michigan, Above Lake Winnebago, the descent in 
 the. r^ver is probably about half a foot per mile, or 
 sixty-three feet to the portage, making that place, as 
 stated in the table of altitudes, (page 53.) two hundred 
 and twenty-three feet above Lake Michigan. At a 
 place on this river called the Red Banks, there are nu- 
 merous ancient artificial mounds and earth-works, on 
 both sides of the river. 
 
 Table of distances along the course of the Neenah : 
 
 From the mouth to the Rapides des Peres. . 7 miles. 
 
 Thence to the Little Kakalin 5 
 
 ■' Rapide de Croche 7 
 
 Grand Kakalin 4 
 
 ■■' Little Chute 4 
 
 " Grand Chute 5 
 
 " Winnebago Rapids 7 
 
 " Oshkosh (thro' Lake Winnebago) 15 
 
 " Great Butte des Morts Lake 4 
 
 " through said lake 4 
 
 " to mouth of Wolf river 3 
 
 " Lake Puckawa 47 
 
 " through said lake 6 
 
 to Bufl^alo lake S
 
 RIVERS. Ill 
 
 Thence through said lake U miles. 
 
 " to the portage _... 21 
 
 Total 15S 
 
 The other streams, which are wholly or partially 
 within the county of Brown, so far as they have re- 
 ceived namcS; and become known to the writer, are as 
 follows : 
 
 Apple river, a branch of the Neenah from the 
 northwest, entering about five miles below Rapide de 
 Croc he. 
 
 Ashwabena, tmother small tributary of the Nee- 
 nah, enters between Green Eay and Dcpere, from the 
 wesl. 
 
 Benton creek, a small branch of the West Twin 
 river, about ten miles in length, entering near the north 
 part oflown twenty-one, range twenty-three. 
 
 Duck creek, a small stream running through the 
 tract of land occupied by the Oneida Indians, and en- 
 tering Green Bay a little west of the Neenah. The 
 settlement of Oneida Indians is on this creek, number- 
 ing about seven hundred, of whom one hundred and 
 twenty are communicants of the Episcopal Church, 
 under the charge of the Rev. Solomon Davis. 
 
 Embarrass, a branch of Wolf river, from the west. 
 
 Hamilton's creek, a small tributary of Girecii 
 Bay, from the west. It enters a few miles north of 
 Grassy Point. 
 
 Kewaunee jriver, a tributary of Lake Michigan, 
 entering immediately cast from the southern extremity 
 of Green Bay. It is about twenty-five miles long, and
 
 112 BROWN COUNTY. 
 
 drains about one hundred and twenty square miles" of 
 surface. It is said to bo navigable for vessels drawing 
 twelve feet, for a distance of five and a half miles from 
 its mouth, to a place where it has worn a channel lor 
 itself through a limestone ledge, and aflbrds good wa- 
 ter power, It is the most northerly stream on the 
 west side of the lake at which a good harbor can be 
 constructed. 
 
 Manitoo river, (or, as it is vulgarly called, Devil 
 river,) rises near the south line of the county, and run- 
 ning parallel to, and within two or three miles of the 
 Neenah river, for a distance of twenty miles, enters 
 that river near its mouth. This peculiar tendency of 
 several streams and lakes to parallelism, is probably 
 owing to some peculiar arrangement of the strata of 
 rock beneath the soil, which is here limestone. 
 
 Martin's creek, a branch of the East Twin river, 
 about seven miles in length, entering in town twenty- 
 one, and range twenty-four. 
 
 Mauvaise creek, a stream about nine miles in 
 length, running between Benton's and Martin's Creek, 
 into the East Twin. 
 
 Mud creek, enters the Neenah from the south, at 
 the foot of the Little Chute, two and a half miles above 
 La Fontaine, 
 
 MusKos, a branch of the Menomonee, sometimes 
 called Pine river, which enters near the Big Gluin- 
 nesec Falls a few miles below the mouth of the Wes- 
 acota. It is so low in summer that it is not navigable, 
 except for the smallest canoes ; and in some seasons it 
 is almost dry. This indicates a sandy bed and soil.
 
 RIVERS. 113 
 
 Namayicum, a branch of the Neenah, entering 
 •from the north a few miles below Puckawa lake. 
 
 Oconto, an important tributary of Green Bay, next 
 north of the Pensaukee. and between that stream and 
 the Peshtego. A short portage connects it with Wolf 
 river. Some settlements have recently been commen- 
 ced and saw mills erected on this river. It has a con- 
 siderable tributary from the north, called Little 
 
 RIVER. 
 
 PENSArKEE, also a tributary of Green Bay, enter- 
 ing in town twenty-seven, upon which saw mills, for 
 the manufacture of pine lumber, have recently been 
 built. 
 
 Pesiitego. — This is the largest tributary of Green 
 Bay between the Menomonee and the Neenah. It is 
 represented as entering an estuary, or arm of the bay, 
 eight miles in length, and about six miles from the 
 mouth of the Menomonee. But little is known of the 
 ■character or extent of this stream. 
 
 Rat RIVER, a branch of the Wolf, from the east. 
 
 ScARBORO CREEK, a branch of the Kewaunee, from 
 the southv/est, rising near the sources of the Twin rivers. 
 
 Spalding's creek, a small stream entering Green 
 Bay, between the Pensaukee and Hamilton's creek. 
 
 Thorn Apple creek, a small branch of the East 
 Twin river, rising near the Kewaunee, and entering 
 the Twin in township twenty-two. 
 
 Twin rivers, (East and West) two streams that 
 rise in the southwest part of Brov.'n county, and run 
 into Manitowoc, where they unite just before they en- 
 ter Lake Michigan. 
 
 8
 
 114 BROWN COUNTY. 
 
 Wesacota (Brule, or Burnt river) that branch oi 
 the Menomonee which approaches nearest to the " Lac 
 Vieux Desert," and forming therefore, a part of the 
 northern boundary of Wisconsin. It is one of the 
 principal branches, has a rapid current, and varies in 
 width from eighty to one hundred feet. The bed is 
 rocky, and it is generally so shallow as to render it 
 difficult to ascend it with canoes, except in times of 
 high water. The banks are thickly studded with white 
 cedar, fir, poplar, tamarack, white birch and pine, for 
 a great extent. There are two portages or falls, about 
 ten miles above its junction with the Menomonee. It 
 rises near Lake Brule. Its name is applied in conse- 
 quence of the timber near its mouth having been de- 
 stroyed by fire. 
 
 Wolf, or Pewaugan, a large branch of the Nee- 
 nah, from the north, entering three miles above the 
 Great Butte des Morts, in Winnebago county. It is 
 larger than the Neenah itself at the confluence, and 
 immediately above it expands into a lake, called Pe- 
 waugan Lake. Its head branches approach the Wis- 
 consin [near the Plover portage, so near that persons 
 often take this route from Green Bay to the upper 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 Many of the small Lakes of Brown county, have 
 not yet been noticed, and received names by which 
 they may be designated in this work. The only one 
 about which any thing is definitely known, is 
 
 Lake Katakittekon, or " Lac Vieux Desert," at 
 the head of the Wisconsin river (and not of the Mon- 
 treal, as was supposed) which it is probable may fall
 
 LAKES. 115 
 
 within the county of Brown, The middle of this lake 
 Avas made a point in the boundary of the Territory. 
 and hence it becomes important to ascertain its exact 
 situation. It was visited in 1840. by Capt. Cram, who 
 reports it as a beautiful lake, containing- three islands, 
 called North, Middle, and South Islands. Upon the 
 south island there was an old deserted planting ground 
 of the Indians ; hence its name with the French, Lac 
 Vieux Desert, Lake of the Desert, as this is some- 
 imes translated, is an improper name, the country 
 ibout it being not a desert, but one of great fertility. 
 It occupies a high level above Lakes Superior and 
 Michigan, and abounds in small lakes, which consti- 
 tute the heads of several large rivers. The Menomo- 
 nee of Lake Michigan, the Ontonagon and Montreal 
 of Lake Superior, and the Wisconsin and Chippewa, 
 )f the Mississippi, all take their rise on the summit in 
 he Katakittekon country. The following extract from 
 ]/'apt. Cram's report relative to this interesting country, 
 s the only information we have in relation to it. " The 
 /ater of these small reservoirs, and of the streams gen- 
 rally, is cold and limpid. Some of the lakes were 
 -bserved to contain the speckled trout, such as are gen- 
 •rally met with in high latitudes in the United States, 
 '.'he scenery of these lakes is beautiful, and the land 
 idjacent to them is better than is generally believed by 
 nose who have not had an opportunity of personal ex- 
 ,mination. The country is not mountainous, but may 
 )e denominated ' rolling.' The growth of timber is 
 olerably heav}', consisting of white and yellow pine 
 in the borders of the lakes ; in some instances of cedar,
 
 116 BROWN COUXTV. 
 
 fir, hemlock, and tamarack ; and a little back of the 
 lakes, of sugar maple, white maple, white and yellow 
 birch, poplar, bass and hemlock. The soil is of a 
 nature to be adapted to the culture of wheat, rye, grass, 
 oats, flax, hemp, and potatoes. In some places the soil 
 is rocky, although no very large masses or ledges of 
 rocks were observed. The manufacture of maple su- 
 gar is carried on to a considerable extent by the In- 
 dians of this region. Many of their ' sugar bushes' 
 were observed, and from the oldness of the marks upon 
 the trees, the Indians must have known the art of ex- 
 tracting this luxury from the forest from an early date 
 of their history. A very good kind of potatoe (wild?) 
 is raised here, the mode of preserving which was en- 
 tirely new to us. The potatoes, which are of an ob- 
 long shape, and not larger than a man's thumb, are 
 partially boiled, and carefully peeled while hot, with- 
 out breaking the pulp, and strung like so many beads 
 upon a twine, or tough thread of bark, and then hung 
 in festoons on the ridge-pole of the wigwam, over the 
 smoke of the fire, where they become thoroughly dry. 
 This process renders the potatoe fit for transportation 
 and use during the severest frosts \vithout injury. The 
 squaws take great interest in preparing this article of 
 food, which is about the only vegetable they cultivate. 
 This district is tolerably well provided with deer, bea- 
 ver, otter, martin, mink, muskrat, ducks of various 
 kinds, fish, teal, wild geese and patridges. Deer how- 
 ever, are not so plentiful as further south. Winter 
 usually sets in about the 20th October, in the Katakit- 
 tekon country : this year from the 20th to the 28th Oc-
 
 LAKES. 117 
 
 taber, the mercury ranged as low as from nine to 
 twelves degrees below freezing, and for several days 
 during the latter part of October, it was continually 
 snowing. On the return of our party, Sandy Lake 
 outlet had become so much frozen as to make it ne- 
 cessary to drag the canoes on the ice ; and the ice was 
 making very fast in all the lakes and streams, — this 
 in the very last days of October.'' The Lake Katakit- 
 tekon is about three miles in its extreme length from 
 north to south, and is very irregular in form. 
 
 Lake Shabine, or Shawruno, is the name of a 
 lake near the head of Wolf river, from which there is 
 a portage to the Oconto river, of Green Bay. 
 
 Green Bay, which derives its name from a fan- 
 cied deeper green color of its waters than usual, may 
 be considered as a lake connected with Lake Michi- 
 gan, at the '• Porte du Morts," or Death's Door. At 
 this point there are several islands, the largest of which, 
 called the Potawalomee Island, is twenty-eight miles 
 in circumference, and about five miles in diameter. 
 Rock Island, (5 3-8 miles in circuit) lies near the north- 
 east corner of it, and Detroit and Plum islands, lie ^- 
 tween it and the main shore at the south. Detroit I. is 
 four miles long, half a mile wide, and nine and one- 
 fourth miles around. Chambers' island, is near the 
 middle of Green Bay, and may be considered as be- 
 longing to Michigan, It is four miles long and two 
 broad, and contains a lake or pond about a mile in 
 length. Sturgeon Bay, and Little Sturgeon 
 Bay, are two small arms of Green Bay, on the east 
 side, about half way between the town of Green Bay
 
 118 BROWN COUNTY. 
 
 and Death's Door, At this point gypsum; or plaster 
 of Paris, has been found, and probably exists in suffi- 
 cient quantities to become important, and may hereafter 
 be worked to advantage. Near the southern extremity 
 of the bay, there is a small island called Grass Isl- 
 and, lying opposite a point on the west side, a little 
 north of Duck creek, called Grass Point; and '• Point 
 Au Sale" is a similar point on the east side of tho 
 bay.
 
 MANITOWOC COUNTY 
 
 Is a lake county, next south of Brown, being 
 bounded on the north by Brown county, or the north 
 line of township number twenty ; on the east by Lake 
 Michigan, or rather by the Territorial line in the 
 middle of that lake; on the south by Sheboygan count}^, 
 or the south line of township number seventeen ; and 
 on the west by Calumet county, or the west line of 
 range twenty-one. It has a length from north to south 
 of twenty-four miles, and an average breadth of twenty 
 miles, and consequently an area of four hundred and 
 eighty square miles. The coast line is twenty-eight 
 and one-fourth miles. This county was set off from 
 Brown, and its boundaries defined in 1836, but was 
 not organised as a separate county until 1839 ; and it 
 still remains attached to Brown for judicial purposes. 
 The population ijj 1840, was two hundred and thirty- 
 five, and in 1842, it had only increased to two hundred 
 and sixty-three. During the past year, however, a 
 considerable addition: has been made to the population. 
 The principal settlements are at the Manitowoc Ra- 
 pids, near the mouth of that river, and at Neshoto, on 
 the west Twin river.
 
 120 MANITOWOC COUNTY. 
 
 The whole county consists of timbered land — being- 
 usually hard wood, as beech, maple, bass-wood, &<c.j 
 except along- the margin of the principal streams, 
 where pine predominates. Pine lumber is manufac- 
 tured to a considerable extent, and shipped on the lake 
 to market. In general, the soil is of good quality, and 
 wherever tested, it is found to yield all the usual crops 
 in great abundance. It abounds in copious springs of 
 pure water, and three small lakes exist in the western 
 and southern parts of the county. One small lake in 
 township eighteen, range twenty-three, was named 
 English lake, by the surveyors, because one of their 
 party named English, fell into the lake while engaged 
 in making the public surveys. 
 
 The village of Manitowoc, at the mouth of the 
 river of the same name, consisting of some twenty or 
 thirty buildings, is a place of some importance as the 
 depot of the lumber made on the river above. A light 
 house has been erected here by the government, and 
 in 1843, a pier was constructed for the accommodation 
 of lake vessels, at private cost. The interests and 
 safety of the lake navigation, requires a permanent 
 harbor at this point, which it is hoped will soon be 
 constructed by the general government. 
 
 Manitowoc Rapids, is the name of a village four 
 miles above Manitowoc at the lake shore, thirty-four 
 miles from Green Bay, twenty-nine miles from She- 
 boygan Falls, and eighty miles from Milwaukee. The 
 rapids here, at the head of navigation of the river, af- 
 fords a very extensive water power, which is laken ad- 
 vantage of to manufacture pine lumber and shingles to 
 a great extent, to be shipped on Lake Michigan.
 
 RIVERS. 121 
 
 Neshoto, is another village of this county, situa-' 
 ted at the head of navigation of the West Twin river, 
 \vhere there is also a water power and saw mills. It 
 is eight miles above the mouth of the river. 
 
 In 1840, there Avere in this county 11 horses, 81 
 neat cattle, 90 swine, one flouring mill, and six saw 
 mills ; and the products during the year 1839, were 
 225 bushels of wheat, 1,750 bushels of oats, 175 bush- 
 els of Indian corn, 1,900 bushels of potatoes, 67 tons 
 of hay, 2,900 pounds of maple sugar, and 2,000 bar- 
 rels of fish. 
 
 The Manitowoc river, or " river of spirits," is 
 the largest and principal stream in the county. It ori- 
 ginates in two main branches, called the north and 
 south branches, which have their origin near the two 
 extremities of Lake Winnebago, and unite at the west 
 line of this county. It drains about four hundred 
 square miles of surface, and is navigable four miles, to 
 the foot of the rapids. From this point there is a 
 series of rapids extending tw^elve miles, with an aggre- 
 gate fall supposed to be about one hundred and forty 
 feet. Above this point the current is gentle, and the 
 stream is navigable for canoes to within a few miles of 
 Lake Winnebago. 
 
 A canal has been proposed along this river to Lake 
 Winnebago, for the purpose of bringing the trade 
 of the country lying in that vicinity, and west of it, 
 to Manitowoc, instead of Green Bay. The distance is 
 about forty miles, and the summit, according to the 
 survey of Capt. Cram, on the north branch, is eighty 
 five and a half feet above Lake Winnebago, and about
 
 122 MANITOWOC COUNTY. 
 
 two hundred and foity-iivo feet above Lake Michigan, 
 requiring a lockage, (should the sumn:iit be cut down 
 seventeen and a half feet, to the level of the head 
 marsh, in township twenty, range nineteen) of two 
 hundred and twenty-eight feet on the east side, and 
 sixty-eight feet on the west side of the summit ; or 
 thirty-seven locks, of eight feet lift, each within forty 
 miles. It is supposed that an abundant supply of wa- 
 ter can be commanded on the summit. 
 
 The East and West Twin rivers, are two streams 
 rising in Brown county, and running in a southerly 
 direction nearly parallel with each other, (of nearly 
 equal size,) and entering Lake Michigan six miles 
 northeast from the mouth of Manitowoc. They unite 
 their waters just before they enter the lake. The East 
 Twin runs nearlv its whole course almost exactly par- 
 allel to the lake shore — a circumstance observed in 
 many other streams. Like the other tributaries of 
 Lake Michigan, they have rapids a few miles above 
 flieir mouth. 
 
 The Sheboygan river, runs through the south- 
 west corner of this county, and the head waters of Me- 
 mee creek occupy a portion of the south tier of town- 
 ships. Calvin's creek, a small tributary of Lake Mich- 
 igan, four miles south of Manitowoc ; and Point creek, 
 seven miles from Manitowoc, are all that have receiv- 
 ed distinct names. There are two large branches of 
 the Manitowoc, from the north, not yet named.
 
 SHEBOYGAN COUNTY 
 
 The county of Sheboygan is bounded on the nortli 
 by Manitowoc county ; east by Lake Michigan ; south 
 by Washington county ; and west by Fond du Lac 
 county, embracing townships thirteen, fourteen, fifteen 
 and sixteen, in ranges twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two 
 and twenty-three east of the fourth principal meridian. 
 It is twenty-four miles long from north to south, and 
 has an average width of twenty-one and one-fourth 
 miles. The area is, therefore, five hundred and ten 
 square miles, of which about fifteen are covered by the 
 Avaters of the Sheboygan lake, occupying the northwest 
 corner township. The length of the coast line is 
 twent3--six and one-eighth miles. This county was 
 set off from Brown, in 1836, and organised for county 
 purposes, in 1839. The population in 1840, was one 
 hundred and thirty-three: and in 1842, it was two 
 hundred and tv;enty-one. There are no prairies or 
 openings : the whole country being covered by dense 
 forests. Among the trees are found pine, to a conside- 
 rable extent, which is manufactured into lumber at the 
 Sheboygan Falls, near the mouth of the river, and 
 shipped on Lake Michigan.
 
 124 SHEBOYGAN COTJXTY. 
 
 The Sheboygan j^iver rises on the high grouiiJs 
 near the southern extremity of Lake Winnebago, in 
 Fond (la Lac county, and running through Sheboygan 
 lake, makes a sudden bend to the north, into Manito- 
 woc county, and then turning to the southeast, enters 
 Lake Michigan near the centre of Sheboygan county. 
 The original Indian name of this river it is almost im- 
 possible for any white man to pronounce. (Shawb-wa- 
 way-gun,) and its meaning is, ''the river that comes 
 out of the ground." Whether it has any part of its 
 course under the ground, as is often the case in lime- 
 stone countries, and as this name would seem to indi- 
 cate, is not known. It drains about three hundred and 
 eighty square miles of surface. At the crossing of the 
 United States road, about six miles above the mouth, 
 there is a rapid or fall, affording abundance of water 
 power, which is already improved. A town has been 
 commenced here called " Sheboygan Falls." The 
 town of Sheboygan is on the lake shore, at the mouth 
 of this river, and is the port at which the commercial 
 business of this county is mostly done. The value of 
 the business done at this point, as stated by Col. Abert, 
 is as follows : 
 
 Years. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 1836 
 
 $ 11,000 
 
 S 13,128 
 
 1837 
 
 12,000 
 
 20,150 
 
 1838 
 
 4,000 
 
 12,158 
 
 1839 
 
 2,200 
 
 16,050 
 
 1840 
 
 650 
 
 13,518 
 
 1841 
 
 725 
 
 12,058
 
 RIVERS. 1:25 
 
 Mullet river, is a considerable branch of the 
 Sheboygan, entering on the south side, one mile above 
 the Falls, and Onion river enters immediately at the 
 Fails. This last has a southerly direction for some 
 distance, to a place noted as the " Salt Licks," and then 
 turns completely around and runs north. Whether 
 these salt licks indicate the existence of salt water or 
 springs in the vicinity, remains to be determined. The 
 rocks found here, and throughout the county, are lime- 
 stone, similar to that found throughout the eastern por- 
 tion of the Territory. The Memee creek, is another 
 instance of that remarkable parallelism so often obser- 
 ved in the rivers and streams of Wisconsin. It rises 
 in Manitowoc county, and runs south between the She- 
 boygan river and the lake shore, and nearly parallel 
 with each. It enters the lake three miles north of 
 Sheboygan, having made a sudden turn to the northeast 
 a few miles above its junction. Black creek runs 
 nearly its whole course, (about six miles) parallel with 
 the lake shore, and only about half a mile from it. It 
 enters the lake three miles south of Sheboygan. 
 
 In 1840, there were in this county 4 horses, 59 neat 
 cattle, 83 swine, one grist mill and two saw mills : and 
 the products of the preceding year, were estimated to 
 be 548 bushels of wheat, 985 of oats, 75 of buckwheat, 
 170 of Indian corn, and 1,803 of potatoes ; 62 tons of 
 hay, 910 pounds of maple sugar, 420 barrels of fish, 
 and eight thousand five hundred dollars worth of lum- 
 ber. 
 
 There are five small lakes in this county, that are 
 named on the maps, and four others not named.
 
 126 SHEBOYGAN COUNTY. 
 
 Bear Lake Section 29, Town'p 15, Range 20. 
 
 Cedar Lake "31&32, " 16, " 21. 
 
 Big Elkhart Lake " 29 & 30, " 16, '■' 21. 
 Little Elkhart L- " 33 & 34, " 16, " 21. 
 Sheboygan Lake. " 16, " 21. 
 
 Sheboygan Falls is fifty-one miles from Milwaukee, 
 twentj^-nine from Manitowoc Falls, and sixiy-threc 
 from Green Bay.
 
 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
 
 This is a large county lying on Lake Michigan, 
 between Milwaukee and Sheboygan counties, and 
 bounded on the west by Dodge county. It extends 
 from the south line of township nine to the north line 
 of town twelve, and from the west line of range eigh- 
 teen to the lake — being twenty-four miles wide from 
 north to south, and twenty-seven miles average length ; 
 and having, consequently, an area of six hundred and 
 forty-eight miles. The coast line in this county is 
 twenty-five and three-eighth miles. It v>'as set of from 
 Milwaukee county, in 1836, and organised for county 
 purposes in 1840: for other purposes it remains at- 
 tached to Milwaukee. The first settlements in this 
 county were commenced in 1836, and in 1838 the pop- 
 ulation was sixty-four ; in 1840, it had increased to 
 three hundred and forty-three: and in 1842. to nine 
 hundred and sixty-five — showing a rate of increase 
 that will soon make this one of the most important 
 counties. Having no direct connection with the lake 
 navigation, and the whole county being covered with 
 a forest of oak, maple, beech, basswood, &c., will in 
 some measure prevent the rapid settlement that might
 
 128 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
 
 under other circumstances be expected. But Wash- 
 ington county has a soil which is, perhaps, not sur- 
 passed by any in the Territory ; an abundance of water 
 gushing up from the limestone substratum on almost 
 every quarter section, and extensive water privileges at 
 the Milwaukee Falls, and many other places. With 
 these privileges, we may safely predict that this will, 
 in time, become one of the richest counties. 
 
 A considerable number of German emigrants have 
 made their new homes in the southern part of this 
 county. 
 
 The Milwaukee river lies chiefly in Washington 
 county, rising near the sources of the Sheboygan, in 
 Fond du Lae county, and running in a southeasterly 
 direction about thirty miles, to within a few miles of 
 the lake, where it turns to the south, and runs about 
 thirty miles parallel with the shore, and enters the lake 
 at Milwaukee. Near the mouth of the Mequan river, 
 it is confined between high perpendicular banks of 
 limestone rock, and has a considerable fall. This 
 place is called the " Milwaukee Falls," and from here 
 to the head of the rapids, near Milwaukee, the river is 
 navigable for small boats. About seven hundred and 
 fifty square miles of surface are drained by this river. 
 
 The Mequan river is a branch of the Milwaukee, 
 entering a little below the falls, and having a similar 
 fall near the junction, over the same limestone ledge. 
 It is a rapid stream, supplied chiefly by many copious 
 springs, and having a very crooked and irregular 
 course. It is the outlet of 
 
 MusQUEwoc Lake, a beautiful sheet of water, four
 
 n I VERS. 129 
 
 miles in length, five-eighths of a mile wide, and nine 
 and one-fourth miles in circumference, near the wes- 
 tern part of the county. 
 
 Sauk creek, is a small tributary of Lake ^lichi- 
 gan, entering at a place called Sauk Harbor, although 
 there is as yet no harbor. A town was laid out on the 
 west side of the Milwaukee liver, opposite this point, 
 called Saukville, twenty-six miles from Milwaukee, and 
 twenty-seven miles from Sheboygan Falls. A road 
 has been opened by the general government from Sauk 
 Harbor to Dekorra, on the Wisconsin river, which is 
 now so completely grown up with bushes and small 
 trees, as to be almost impassable. 
 
 Stony creek, is a small stream in the north part 
 of the county: and Pigeon creek, enters the Mil- 
 waukee in town nine. Random lake, is in sections 
 nine, ten, fifteen and sixteen, township twelve, range 
 twenty-one. On Pigeon creek there is a saw mill, in 
 excavating for the foundation of which, a piece of na- 
 tive copper was found. 
 
 Besides the two lakes already mentioned, there are 
 twenty-three others, all very small, in this county. 
 
 The statistics of Washington county, as exhibited by 
 the United States census of 1840, are as follows: 3 
 horses, 277 neat cattle, 1 sheep, 288 swine, 3 saw 
 mills ; 182 bushels of wheat, 165 of oats, 30 of rye, 
 74 of buckwheat, 558 of Indian corn and 2,150 of po- 
 tatoes ; 3 pounds of hops, 88 tons of hay, 4,659 pounds 
 of maple sugar, and eight hundred dollars worth of 
 lumber. 
 
 9
 
 MILWAUKEE COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Dodge and Washington 
 counties : on the east by Lake Michigan ; on the south 
 by Racine and Walworth counties : and on the west 
 by Jefferson : or on the north by the north line of town- 
 ship eight ; south by the south line of township five : 
 and west by the west line of range seventeen. Its mean 
 or average length is thirty-three and seven-eighth miles 
 from east to west, and its width is twenty-four miles — 
 occupying an area of eight hundred and thirteen square 
 miles or sections. The length of the coast line, meas- 
 uring around the bays and points, is twenty-six and 
 seven-eighth miles. Milwaukee county was set off 
 from Brown, September 6, 1834, by an act of the le- 
 gislature of Michigan, and organised the next year. It 
 then extended from the Illinois State line seventy-two 
 miles north, and west beyond Madison, Dane county. 
 In June, 1836, the population had increased to two 
 thousand eight hundred and ninety-two; in 1838, to 
 three thousand one hundred and thirty-one ; in 1840, to 
 five thousand six hundred and five ; and in 1842, when 
 last enumerated, to nine thousand five hundred and
 
 TOWNS. lol 
 
 iixty-five. Such has been the rapid increase since 
 June, 1842, that the population may now be safely es- 
 timated at sixteen thousand. 
 
 The " town system" of government was adopted by 
 a vote of the people, and the county is divided into 
 twenty-three towns, as follows : 
 
 Brookfield embraces townshipseven, range twenty. 
 
 Delafield, township seven, range eighteen. 
 
 Eagle, township five, range seventeen. 
 
 Franklin, township five, range twenty-one, 
 
 Genesee, township six, range eighteen. 
 
 Granville, township eight, range twenty-one 
 
 Greenfield, township six, range twenty-one. 
 
 Lake, township six, range twenty-two. 
 
 Lisbon, township eight, range nineteen. 
 
 Menomonee, township eight, range twenty. 
 
 Mequanigo. township five, range eighteen. 
 
 Milwaukee, townships seven and eight, range 
 twenty-two. 
 
 MuSKEGO, township five, range twenty. 
 
 New Berlin, township six, range twenty. 
 
 Oak Creek, township five, ranges twenty-two and 
 twenty-three. 
 
 Oconomewoc, township eight, range seventeen. 
 
 Ottawa, township six, range seventeen. 
 
 Pewaukee, township seven, range nineteen. 
 
 Prairieville, township six, range nineteen 
 
 Summit, township seven, range seventeen. 
 
 Vernon, township five, range eighteen. 
 
 Warren, township eight, range eighteen. 
 
 Wawatosa, township seven, range twcnty-ont*
 
 132 MILWAUKEE COUNTY. 
 
 In 1840, there were in this county 541 horses, 5,100 
 neat cattle, 798 sheep, 8,114 swine, 1 iron foundry, 26 
 stores and groceries, 2 printing-offices, 8 grist mills, 
 13 saw mills ; and in 1839, the amount of produce was 
 34,236 bushels of wheat, 845 of barley, 26,863 of oats^ 
 147 of rye, 1,829 of buckwheat, 26,820 of Indian corn, 
 and 64,242 of potatoes : 67 pounds of wool ; 4,574 
 tons of hay, 48,886 pounds of maple sugar, and fifteen 
 thousand one hundred dollars worth of skins and furs.
 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 
 
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 134 MILWAUKEE COUNTY. 
 
 The soil, generally speaking-, is abundantly rich, 
 and adapted to the growth of the usual crops in this 
 climate and latitude. East of a line running up Root 
 river, thence down Poplar creek, and up the Pishtaka. 
 the land is covered with a heavy growth of timber, 
 among which are the following species or kinds : hard 
 and soft maple, white birch, hickory (two kinds,) white 
 and red cedar, white and red beech, black and white 
 walnut, white and yellow pine, tamarack, sycamore, 
 hackberry, poplar,* balm of Gilead,t aspen, | white, 
 red, burr and pin oak, basswood, common and slippery 
 elm. Several of these, as the red cedar, pine, and syc- 
 amore.:{::J: are however, not very often found. West of 
 the line above described, the country consists of oak 
 openings, interspersed with small prairies, except in 
 the town of Oconomewoc. The oak most usual on 
 the openings, are the white oak and burr oak, {Quer- 
 CHS macrocavpa ;) but these species are seldom mixed, 
 and the kind of tree gives name to the openings ; thus 
 we say '-white oak openings," or "burr oak openings." 
 There is believed to be a difference in the character of 
 the soil on the different kinds of openings, as well as 
 on the prairies. 
 
 The shore of Lake Michigan, in this county, con- 
 sists of a bank of clay, from twenty to one hundred feet 
 in height, and as nearly perpendicular as the nature of 
 the material will admit. From this the country grad- 
 ually rises, as we pass westward, until we attain the 
 
 * Populus grandidentata. t P. laevigata, t P. tremuloides. 
 
 ttOnly one sycamore or button-wood tree, has been observed 
 by the author in Wisconsin — and that was destroyed in clearing 
 the farm of A. Sweet, Esq., near Milwaukee.
 
 ToroGRAriiY. 135 
 
 summit between the lake and Rock river, which is 
 three hundred and sixteen feet above the level of the 
 lake. West of this summit the country maintains 
 nearly a uniform level, or has but a moderate inclina- 
 tion towards Rock river. This summit is believed to 
 be the lowest point in the dividing ridge betv/een the 
 waters of the Great Lakes and the Missippi in this Ter- 
 ritory, except at the portage between the Wisconsin 
 and Neenah rivers. The surface of the country in 
 this county is broken by the valleys of several streams, 
 mostly running towards the south ; but these valleys 
 are usually not very much depressed below the gene- 
 ral level. By passing up the Menomonee valley, and 
 across the head branches of the Pishtaka, a canal or 
 rail road may reach the summit by a very gradual and 
 uniform ascent. The valleys of the Menomonee and 
 Bark rivers approach each other at the north, (almost 
 encircling the head waters of the Pishtaka,) as if for 
 the purpose of inviting improvement, by canal or rail 
 road, in this direction. Some of the highest points in 
 the western part of the county, are probably five hun- 
 dred feet above Lake Michigan. 
 
 The whole county is based upon limestone, mostly 
 of a light blueish-gray color, and disposed in thin, 
 nearly horizontal layers or strata. It is an excellent 
 building material, and affords good lime. Some quar- 
 ries afford stone full of small cavities, rendering it un- 
 fit for polishing, but is used for works of a coarse kind, 
 and it is more easily penetrated by heat in the manu- 
 facture of lime, in consequence of these cavities. The 
 lime made from it is very pure and white.
 
 136 MILWAUKEE COUNTV. 
 
 There arc thirteen post offices now established in 
 this county — at Delaficld, Greenfield, Kewaunee, Me- 
 nomonee Falls, Milwaukee, Muskego, Mcquanigo, 
 New Berlin, Oak Creek, Prairieville, St. Maries, 
 Summit, and Vernon. 
 
 Besides Milwaukee, the county seat, there are sc^'- 
 cral smaller villages in the county, the principal of 
 which are Prairieville, Mequanigo, Summit, Dcla- 
 field, Oconomewoc, Oak Creek, &,c. 
 
 PxiAiRiEviLLE, is situatod on the Pishtaka (or F(»x) 
 liver, on the site of an old Indian village, sixteen miles 
 west from Milwaukee. It is at the head of a beautiful 
 prairie, occupying the valley of the river, which here 
 has a descent of ten feet in the distance of half a mile. 
 The water power thus afforded, is used to propel one 
 of the largest flouring mills in the Territory. The 
 population is now probably about five hundred, and 
 many new and handsome dwelling houses are annu- 
 ally erected. There is here a commodious hotel, a 
 church, an academy, saw-mill, two stores, &c. 
 
 In 1841, Prairieville exported about 7,000 barrels 
 of flour, 250 of pork, and 12,000 pounds of hides, val- 
 ued in all at thirty-eight thousand eight hundred and 
 forty dollars. 
 
 The merchandise, vfec, imported during the same 
 year, was estimated at twenty-five thousand seven hun- 
 dred dollars. 
 
 Milwaukee, is situated on the river of the same 
 name, near its mouth, or entrance into the Milwaukee:
 
 MILWAUKEE. 137 
 
 bay of Lake Michigan, ninety miles north from Chi- 
 cago, Illinois ; one hundred and fourteen miles from 
 Green Bay, and about eighty miles due east froni Mad- 
 ison. It was laid out as a village in 1835, and the 
 settlement was not commenced until that year ; but 
 such was the rapidity with which the population in- 
 creased, that in June of the succeeding year, the num- 
 ber of inhabitants was one thousand two hundred and 
 six; and in September, 1843, six thousand and sixty- 
 eight. No town or city in the United Slates has grown 
 up with any thing like the rapidity of Milwaukee. 
 Within eight years from the time when the first family 
 arrived here, with a view to permanent residence, we 
 see a population of over six thousand. 
 
 The city of Rochester, in western New- York, has 
 often been referred to as having increased more ra- 
 pidly in wealth and population, than any other in the 
 world — and perhaps she has been entitled to that dis- 
 tinction. Mr, O'Reilley, who has written a very val- 
 uable book, entitled "Sketches of Rochester and Wes- 
 tern New-York," asks exultingly, " where, in what 
 place, through all the broad and fertile west, can there 
 be shown any town which has surpassed Rochester in 
 the permanent increase of popukition, business and 
 wealth V' We may answer the question by making a 
 little comparison. 
 
 Rochester was laid out in 1812, and in 1816, or four 
 years, the population was three hundred and thirty-one. 
 
 In 1820, or eight years, the population was fifteen 
 l]undred. 
 
 Milwaukee was laid out in 1835, and in 1839. or
 
 138 MILWAUKEE COUNTY. 
 
 four years, the population was fifteen hundred — or as' 
 much increase m four years, as Rochester had in eight. 
 But in 1843, or eight years, the population of Milwau- 
 kee was over six thousand, or four times as much as 
 Rochester during the same period. 
 
 The town commences about a mile above the mouth 
 of the river, at a place called Walker's Point, and ex- 
 tends about a mile and a half along the river. Below 
 Walker's Point, the river is bordered by impassable 
 marshes. The ground occupied by the town is uneven, 
 rising from the river to the height of from fifty to one 
 hundred feet, thus affording very beautiful situations 
 for residences, commanding a full view of the town 
 and bay, with its shipping. But few of these sites 
 have yet been occupied and improved, as their pe ^liar 
 importance and interesting views would lead us to ex- 
 pect. Along the base and front of these hills are a 
 great number of springs of pure water, sufficient, if 
 collected into a reservoir, to supply the wants of a con- 
 siderable population. The river is sufficiently wide 
 and deep to accommodate a large amount of shipping, 
 and continues so for some distance above the town. At 
 the head of this navigable portion of the river, a dam 
 has been built by the Milwaukee and Rock River Ca- 
 nal Company, which raises the water twelve feet above 
 high water, and causes a slack water navigation ex- 
 tending two miles further up the stream. A canal of 
 one mile and a quarter, brings this water into the town 
 on the west side of the river, and creates there a water 
 power which is estimated to be equal to about one hun- 
 dred runs of mill stones ; and the canal has a width and
 
 MILWAUKEE. 139 
 
 depth sufficient to pass almost the whole body of water 
 into the river. The manufactories erected on this ca- 
 nal, have the advantage of being located on the imme- 
 diate bank of the river, and may be approached by the 
 largest steamboats navigating the Great Lakes — thus 
 affording advantages not usually found associated, in 
 the western country. 
 
 The following statement exhibits the value of the 
 principal articles of imports and exports at Milwaukee, 
 from the first settlement in 1835, to the end of the year 
 1841, as ascertained by a committee of the Corpora- 
 tion : 
 
 Years. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 1835-6 
 
 8 588,9-50 
 
 8 26,145 
 
 ,1837 
 
 641,235 
 
 47,745 
 
 1838 
 
 783,458 
 
 47,690 
 
 1839 
 
 866,740 
 
 43,568 
 
 1840 
 
 1,147,803 
 
 53,828 
 
 1841 
 
 1,805,277 
 
 286,777 
 
 Since 1841, no estimate has been made of the amount 
 of business done; but judging from the increased num- 
 ber of business houses, we may suppose that it has kept 
 pace with the increase of population. The principal 
 items embraced in this statement of importations are, 
 merchandize, lumber, salt, fish, &c. The principal 
 items of exportation are merchandize, lard, flour, wheat, 
 pork, furs, &c. The first exportation of flour was in 
 1S39, and in this year commenced also the exportation 
 of lead brought here by waggons over land, from the 
 mining district about Mineral Point. In 1841, copper 
 was added to the list of exports ; and the amount of
 
 140 MILWAUKEE COUiNTY, 
 
 lead, shot, and copper shipped here during that year, 
 was 1,768,175 pounds. 
 
 The following is a statement of the amount of mo- 
 ney received at the Milwaukee Land Office, for sales 
 of public land, during each year since ihe office was 
 opened : 
 
 Years. Amount. 
 
 1836 $ 88,432 10 
 
 1837 .* 90,131 81 
 
 1838 69,350 24 
 
 1839--- 785,950 57 
 
 1840 138,661 02 
 
 1841 103,547 98 
 
 1842 149,816 75 
 
 1843 __. 192,401 11 
 
 Total $1,618,291 58 
 
 It will be observed that this is considerably more 
 than one-half of the whole proceeds of sales of public 
 land in this Territory, as exhibited in this work, page 
 32. 
 
 The number of arrivals of steamboats and other ves- 
 sels, at Milwaukee, were noted by persons interested 
 in such matters, during five or six years ; since which 
 the number has increased very considerably : 
 
 Years. 
 1835 -- 
 
 Steamboat arrivals.. 
 2 
 
 Schooners, &c. 
 80 
 
 1836 
 
 _. 19 
 
 193 
 
 1837 
 
 1838 
 
 1839 
 
 I'M" 126 y.i.i" 
 
 182 
 
 290 
 
 137 
 
 lis 
 
 1840 
 
 174 

 
 MILWAUKEE BAY. Hi 
 
 An appropriation was made by Congress, at the ses- 
 sion of 1842-3, for tlie construction of a harbor at Mil- 
 waukee, and considerable progress has been made in 
 the work. When this is completed, the largest steam- 
 boats can enter the river, and land at any of the Vvharvcs 
 within the town. 
 
 The Milwaukee Bay, is a semi-circular indenta- 
 tion of Lake Michigan, at Milwaukee, about six miles 
 across, and three miles deep. The north and south 
 points or capes, protect the shipping from the effects of 
 all storms or gales of wind, except those from the east, 
 which seldom occur. The bottom is clay, affording 
 good anchorage ground. The mouth of the river is 
 about half a mile below the middle of this bay. It is 
 supposed by many that all the space between the mouth 
 of the river and the town, now occupied by impassable 
 marshes, was once a portion of this bay, and there are 
 many facts that go to substantiate, or render probable, 
 this suggestion. It has been sounded to the depth of 
 forty-two feet, without finding bottom ; the apparent 
 bottom, a few feet below the surface, being only an ac- 
 cumulation of the roots of grass and weeds floating on 
 the water, and soft mud below. 
 
 The rivers and creeks of Milwaukee county, are as 
 follows : 
 
 Bark river, and Oconomewoc creek, running 
 in a southwesterly direction, through the western part 
 of the county, into Rock river ; Milwaukee river, 
 and the Menomonee river, running in a southeas- 
 terly direction through the eastern part of the county 
 into Lake Michigan ; and between these lie the Pish-
 
 142 MILWAUKEE COUNTY. 
 
 TAKA or Fox RIVER and its branches, which run 
 south, into Racine county. Root river also takes 
 its rise in this county. Among the streams of less im- 
 portance, are the Kinnickinnic creek, which enters 
 the Milwaukee river at the mouth ; Mequanigo creek, 
 a branch of the Pishtaka, in the town of the same 
 name; Muskego creek, or outlet ; Oak creek, a tribu- 
 tary of Lake Michigan ; Pewaukee outlet ; Poplar 
 creek, a branch of the Pishtaka, in Brookfield ; and 
 the head waters of the Scupernong, a branch of Bark 
 river. 
 
 The Menomonee river rises in the southern part 
 of Washington county, and running in a southeasterly 
 direction through the towns of Menomonee, Granville 
 and Wawatosa, enters the Milwaukee river in the town 
 of Milwaukee. It is a fine little stream, affording 
 many valuable mill privileges, several of which are 
 already improved. Several limestone quarries have 
 been opened along its banks, which are usually high. 
 It receives a branch in the town of Granville, called 
 the "East Branch ;" and above that point the valley 
 is much contracted in width, there being no bottom 
 lands on either side. Below the East Branch, the 
 level or bottom lands are usually about half a mile in 
 width. 
 
 At the place called the Menomonee Falls, fifteen 
 miles from Milwaukee, this river passes between per- 
 pendicular banks of limestone, sometimes thirty feet in 
 height. There is a fall here of forty-eight feet, in the 
 space of half a mile, and mills have been erected here. 
 There is no perpendicular fall of water. The lime-
 
 LAKES. 143 
 
 Stone may be quarried in layers of any desired thick- 
 ness, and much of it is of an excellent quality for buil- 
 ding, and even for ornamental purposes, being hard, 
 and of a uniform texture, resembling marble. Some 
 layers are filled with small cells or cavities, occasioned 
 probably, by the decay of some mineral substance that 
 once filled them. This variety is probably the best 
 for the manufacture of lime, requiring less fuel than 
 the more compact variety. 
 
 There is a group of fine lakes in the western part 
 of this county, and several others in different parts of 
 the county, as follows : 
 
 Crooked lake, on Bark river, one mile west of 
 Nemahbin lake — not represented on the plats of public 
 surveys. 
 
 Gold lake, (Wissauwa.) on the line between Jef- 
 ferson and Milwaukee counties. It discharges its wa- 
 ters through a small stream into Bark river. It is 
 three miles around, one mile and a fourth long, and 
 has an area of two hundred and seventy acr-es. 
 
 Kauchke lake, on the Oconomewoc creek, next 
 above the Oconomewoc lake, having a small lake cal- 
 led Mouse lake, near its northeast corner. It has a 
 triangular shape, each side being about one and a half 
 miles long, and a narrow bay extends half a mile from 
 its southern extremity. It occupies nine hundred and 
 fifty-seven acres, and has a periphery of five miles and 
 three quarters. At the outlet of this lake a dam has 
 been built, which has raised its waters above their ori- 
 ginal level. 
 
 La Belle lake, or "the beautiful lake," is the
 
 144 MILWAUKEE COUNTY. 
 
 lower and largest of the Oconomewoc group of lakes, 
 being two and a half miles long, one and a fourth wide, 
 and occupying an area of a little more than two sec- 
 tions, or square miles. It is six miles and a quarter 
 around its shores. A town has been laid out at the 
 eastern extremity of this lake, called Oconomewoc, 
 where a dam across the creek produces a water power 
 of considerable force. The west end of the lake is only 
 one and a half miles from Rock river, and they might 
 be connected by a canal. The river is fifteen feet 
 lower than the lake, and the summit ridge is twenty- 
 five feet higher than the lake, as ascertained by level- 
 ing. 
 
 Larraugh (Beaver) lake, lies half a mile east 
 from Pine lake, into which it discharges its waters. It 
 is eighty three chains long, and sixty-nine wide, with 
 a circumference of three and one-fourth miles, and oc- 
 cupying an area of four hundred and twenty-three 
 acres. 
 
 The Mequanigo lake, is an expansion of the Pish- 
 taka river, near the village of Mequanigo, one and a 
 half miles long, and half a mile wide. It lies princi- 
 pally within an extensive marsh. 
 
 Mouse lake, so called, probably, from its diminu- 
 tive size, is one of the Oconomewoc group, one and 
 three-fourth miles in circumference, fifty-three chains 
 long, and occupying one hundred acres of surface. It 
 lies near the Kauchee. 
 
 MoNisH lake, lies one mile southwest from Mus- 
 kego lake. It is a small lake, forming the source of a 
 branch of Muskesfo creek.
 
 LAKES. 145 
 
 MusKEGO, is one of the largest lakes in the county, 
 occupying three thousand one hundred and sixty acreS; 
 or nearly five sections, It is three and seven-eighths 
 miles long, two wide, and eleven miles around. It 
 discharges its waters through Muskego creek, into 
 the Pishtaka, at Rochester, in Racine county. 
 
 Nag WICK A lake, is near the centre of the town 
 of Delafield, two miles and a quarter long, by three- 
 fourths broad, and occupies an area of six hundred and 
 ninety acres. It is five miles and a quarter around. 
 Bark river runs through it transversely, and it con- 
 tains a small island, which adds much to the beauty of 
 the lake. The shores are high and covered with 
 scattered trees, presenting a fine prospect to the eye. 
 Its surface is three hundred and four feet above Lake 
 Michigan. 
 
 Naskotah (Tv^Mn) lakes — two small lakes lying 
 north of Nemahbin lake, near the east line of the town 
 of Summit. The north lake is two hundred and ninetj^- 
 one feet above Lake Michigan, sixty-seven chains long, 
 thirty-one wide, and has a periphery of two miles. On 
 the east bank of this lake is the Episcopal College, 
 recently established. The south lake is seventy-five 
 chains long, twenty-seven wide, and has a periphery 
 of two miles and a quarter. 
 
 Nemahbin lake, lies near the east line of the town 
 of Summit, and is quite similar, in many respects, to 
 the Nagowicka lake. Bark river passes through it 
 transversely; and it has an island covered with trees 
 of a different kind from those found in the surrounding 
 country. It is five and a half miles around, two miles 
 10
 
 146 MILWAUKEE COUNTY. 
 
 long, three-fourths of a mile wide, and covers five hun- 
 dred and twenty-eight acres. Its surface is two hun- 
 dred and eighty-nine feet above Lake Michigan. 
 
 North lake, (or Shunakee.) lies north of Pine 
 lake, in the town of Warren, is one mile and a quarter 
 long, three-fourths of a mile wide, and has an area of 
 five hundred and eighty-one acres. The Oconomewoc 
 creek passes through this lake. 
 
 OcoNOMEAvoc LAKE, is the most southern of the 
 group of lakes, on the creek of the same name, being 
 in the north part of township seven, range seventeen. 
 It is one-mile and three-fourths long, three-fourths of a 
 mile wide, and has a periphery of six and three-fourth 
 miles, and an area of seven hundred and fifty acres. 
 Its surface is two hundred and eighty-two feet above 
 Lake Michigan. 
 
 Pewaukee LAKE, (or Pewaukee-wee-ning — lake 
 of shells,) so named by the observing Indians, on ac- 
 count of the great quantity of small shells found in the 
 sand along the shore. These shells are not snail 
 shells,* and hence Snail lake (as it is sometimes cal- 
 led) is an incorrect translation of the Indian name. It 
 is four miles and a half long, and has an average 
 width of about three-fourths of a mile. The coast line 
 around it, is eleven and one-sixth miles, and its area is 
 three and one-third square miles, or sections. It lies 
 in the towns of Delafield and Pewaukee, at an eleva- 
 tion of two hundred and sixty-three feet above Lake 
 
 * Snails are land animals, and not aquatic. The shells found 
 here are bleached and mixed with small particles of white lime- 
 stone. They are species of the genera Paludina, Valvata, Plan- 
 orbis, Melania, Cyclas, and fragments of Anodonta=
 
 LAKES. 14? 
 
 Michigan. It is supplied almost entirely by springs, 
 and discharges about three hundred cubic feet of water 
 per minute, through the Pewaukee outlet into the Pish- 
 taka river. A dam has been erected, however, at the 
 foot of this lake, which has raised its waters about four 
 feet. It is surrounded by high, well wooded hills. 
 rendering the scenery about it highly beautiful and in- 
 teresting. 
 
 Around this lake at many places, as well as on 
 other lakes in Wisconsin, may be observed a singular 
 wall of round stones, or boulders, laid up with such 
 regularity as to suggest the idea of being the work of 
 art. A little further observation, however, will show 
 that these walls are made by the expansion of the ice 
 during the winter, which has a tendency to push them 
 upon the shore. The sandy ridges around many lakes 
 are caused in the same way. The process may be ob- 
 served in a very cold day in the winter. 
 
 Pine lake, lies immediately north of the Nago- 
 wicka, two and a quarter miles long, three-fourths of a 
 mile wide, five miles and a quarter around, and has an 
 area of six hundred and ninety acres — being exactly 
 the same as the Nagowicka. The Indian name is 
 Chenequa, or Pine, given in consequence of a few pine 
 trees having been found on a small neck of land, or 
 island in this lake. 
 
 PowACK LAKE, is about three-fourths of a mile in 
 diameter, lying one mile northv/est from Muskego 
 lake. 
 
 Round lake, lies two miles west of Nemahbin. 
 
 Silver lake, lies three miles west of the Nesho-
 
 118 MILWAUKEE COUNTY. 
 
 tall lake, in the town of Summit, is one mile long, five- 
 eighths wide, two miles and five-eighths in circumfer- 
 ence, and has an area of two hundred and seventy-five 
 acres. 
 
 TucK-Kip-piNG LAKE, is in the northeast part of 
 the town of Warren. Its length is nearly two miles, 
 width three-fourths, and periphery five and a haff 
 miles. Its area is five hundred and eleven acres. 
 
 The whole number of lakes in this county is thirty- 
 eight.
 
 HAOINE COUNTY, 
 
 Is the most southern of the lake counties, and occu- 
 pies the southeast corner of the Territory. It is boun- 
 ded on the north by Milwaukee county, east by Lake 
 Michigan, south by the ^tate line of Illinois, and west 
 by Walworth county; or it includes townships one, 
 two, three and four, in ranges nineteen, twenty, twenty- 
 one, twenty-two and twenty-three. The jurisdiction of 
 this county, as well as all the others bounding on 
 Lnke Michigan, extends to the State line of Michigan, 
 in the middle of the lake. Racine county is twenty- 
 four miles wide, from north to south, and has an ave- 
 rage length of twenty-five and two third miles, and 
 therefore an area of six hundred and sixteen square 
 miles, or sections. The length of coast in this county 
 is twenty-six and one-half miles. The country is gen- 
 erally even, or slightly rolling, and is almost destitute 
 of limber. Burr oaks, hickory, &c., are found in oc- 
 casional groves, and the remainder is prairie. Beds 
 of limestone are found along some of the streams. 
 
 This county was set ofT from Milwaukee, in 183G, 
 and was then organised as a separate count}'. The
 
 150 RACINE COUNTY. 
 
 population in 1838, was two tliousand fifty-four ; in 
 1840, it had increased to three thousand four hundred 
 and seventy-five ; and in 1842 it had a hnost doubled, 
 being six thousand three hundred and eighteen. Since 
 that period, the increase of population has been very, 
 considerable. 
 
 The villages in Racine county are 
 
 Burlington, situated on the west side of the Pish- 
 taka, at the entrance of the C4eneva outlet, six miles 
 below Rochester. 
 
 Racine, the seat of justice of the county, and the 
 oldest settlement, is situated on Lake Michigan, at the 
 mouth of Root river, occupying mostly a level plain, 
 lying about fifty feet above the level of the lake. It is 
 twenty-five miles south from Milwaukee, ten miles from 
 Southport, and one hundred and fifty miles, by the 
 United States road, from the Mississippi, at Sinipee. 
 The village was incorporated in 1841. During the 
 past season (1843) the citizens have, without the aid of 
 government, nearly completed a harbor at this place, 
 in a permanent and durable manner — the piers being 
 of the sirne kind as those built under the direction of 
 the Topographical Bureau. At the extremity of the 
 piers there is twelve feet depth of water — suflicient for 
 all purposes of navigation. There is a reef of rocks 
 in the lake off this place, about a mile and a half long 
 and half a mile wide, which is supposed to be useful in 
 ])rotecting the harbor from the effects of storms. The 
 river, within the bar, is represented as being wide and 
 deep, and like most of the other tributaries of Lake
 
 RACINE. 151 
 
 Michigan, lies on a level with the lake for some dis- 
 tance above, forming a convenient and safe harbor for 
 vessels. Above this slack water, the river runs over 
 beds of yellowish limestone, forming rapids, and af- 
 fording water power sufficient to propel a considerable 
 amount of machinery. 
 
 The amount of commercial business done each year, 
 from 1836 to 1841, inclusive, as stated by Col. J. J. 
 Abert, chief of the Topographical Bureau at Wash- 
 ina:ton. is as follows : 
 
 Years. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 1836 
 
 8 52,835 
 
 $ 225 
 
 1837 
 
 49,895 
 
 1,000 
 
 1838 
 
 28,340 
 
 1,400 
 
 1839 
 
 - 52,920 
 
 2,000 
 
 1840 
 
 59,944 
 
 5,750 
 
 1841 
 
 108,898 
 
 25,041 
 
 ' The following statistics of the place, is from the Ra- 
 cine Advocate, of December 23, 1842, and will convey 
 a proper idea of the kinds and e.xtent of business done 
 at Racine : 
 
 Population 800. 3 forwarding houses, 1 1 stores, 
 2 stove stores, 1 auction and commission store, 2 cop- 
 per, tin and sheet iron manufactories, 4 grocery stores, 
 
 2 drug and medicine stores, 2 leather and shoe stores, 
 
 3 cabinet warehouses, 8 lumber merchants, 2 markets, 
 
 4 public houses, 1 printing establishment, and 85 buil- 
 dings erected within the year 1842.
 
 152 RACINE COUNTY. 
 
 IMPORTATIONS. 
 
 175 tons of merchandize, 
 
 2j000 barrels of salt, 
 
 2,423,000 feet of lumber, 
 
 1,405 thousand of shingles, 
 850 tons of household furniture, 
 350 " of machinery and farming utensils, 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 38,000 bushels of wheat, 
 5,000 " of oats, 
 
 800 barrels of flour, 
 
 350 " of pork, 
 
 100 " of beef, 
 20,000 pounds of dry hides, 
 20,000 " of lead, 
 10,000 '• of shot. 
 
 Rochester, is a thrivinnc little village, situated on 
 both sides of the Pishtaka river, at the entrance of the' 
 Muskego outlet, and at the crossing of the United 
 States road from Racine to the Mississippi ; tAventy-four 
 miles from Racine, twenty-eight miles from Milwau- 
 kee, and forty-one from Janesville, on Rock river. 
 Water power is obtained at this place on the river, and 
 also on the Muskego outlet. It is to be regretted that 
 the good citizens of this place have not adopted its In- 
 dian name, Waukeesha ; and it may be hoped that they 
 will show their good taste by doing so whenever the 
 village is iacorporatcd.
 
 TOWNS. 153 
 
 SouTHPORT, is situated en the lake shore, thivly-five 
 miles from Milwaukee, and fifty-five from Chicago, in 
 Illinois. It is the most southern place in Wisconsin 
 at which it is supposed a harbor can be buih — hence 
 its name. It was commenced in 183G. and was incor- 
 porated in 1841. The population is now estimated at 
 but little less than two thousand, having partaken 
 largely of the increase of population within the last 
 few years, as in 1840, it was only 337. 
 
 For the accommodation of the commercial business 
 of this place, a pier was constructed in 1841, consisting 
 of a plank-way or bridge, resting on piles driven into 
 the bottom of the lake. This kind of improvement 
 ..^^ iirst suggested by Mr. P. B. Cahoon, of South- 
 port, and has since been adopted with much advantage 
 at Milwaukee and Manitowoc. The pier extends suf- 
 ficiently far into the lake to be approached by the lar- 
 gest vessels, and the plank-way is elevated sufficiently 
 above the water to be free fi'om any danger on account 
 of the waves. There are no stone quarries or water 
 privileges in the vicinity of Southport, but the surround- 
 ing country is a rich and fertile prairie, well adapted 
 for all purposes of agriculture. The merchants of 
 Southport supply a portion of the people of northern 
 Illinois, as well as southern Wisconsin, with their 
 commodities. 
 
 W^ATERFORD, is a Small village on the west side ot 
 the Pishtaka, a short distance above Rochester, where 
 there is a flourin? mill, a saw mill, &c.
 
 154 RACINE COUxNTY. 
 
 The town system of government is adopted in this 
 
 county, and the towns arc 
 
 Bristol — township one, range twenty-one. 
 
 Burlington, parts of townships two and three, in 
 ranges nii.eteen and twenty. 
 
 Caledonia, township four, range twenty -two. 
 
 Mount Pleasant, township three, range twenty-two. 
 
 Paris, township two, and one mile of township 
 three, in range ivventy-one. 
 
 Pike, township two, range tuenty-two. 
 
 Pleasant Prairie, township one, range twenty-two. 
 
 Racine, townships three and four, in range twenty- 
 three. 
 
 Rochester, township four, and no. ' '•-- = '— of 
 township three, in range nin^^^^^^jana the 
 west half of range twenty. 
 
 Salem, township one, and south two m^ies of township 
 two, in range twenty. 
 
 Southport, townships one and two, -in range twenty- 
 three. 
 
 Wheatland, township one, and two miles of town- 
 ship two, in range nineteen. 
 
 Yorkville, the north five miles of township three 
 and all of township four, in range twenty- 
 one, and the east half of range twenty.* 
 Post offices have been established at the following 
 
 places : Aurora, Bristol, Ives' C4rove, Lakeville, Mount 
 
 Pleasant, Pleasant Prairie, Racine, Rochester, Salem. 
 
 Salona, Southport and Yorkville. 
 
 *Tt Is understood that several new towns were established in 
 this county by the legislature at its recent session. If so, they 
 will be described at the end of 'his volume.
 
 LAKES. 155 
 
 There are four weekly newspapers published in Ra- 
 cine county — two at Racine and two at Southport. 
 
 The statistics of the county of Racine, as ascertained 
 in 1840, are as follows ; 539 horses and mules, 4,506 
 neat cattle, 340 sheep, 6,549 swine, 2 commission hou- 
 ses, 19 stores and groceries, a lumber yards, 2 grist 
 mills, and 13 saw mills. The products of 1839 weje 
 36,099 bushels of wheat, 1,796 of barley, 41,028 of 
 oats, 342 of rye, 3,481 of buckwheat, 30,168 of Indian 
 corn, 53,667 of potatoes; 358 pounds of wool, 140 
 pounds of wax, 4,627 tons of hay, 6,051 pounds of 
 maple sugar ; and the produce of dairies, was estimated 
 at ten thousand and thirty dollars. 
 
 Wind lake, is the largest of the lakes in Racine 
 county, lying one mile below Muskego lake, on Mus- 
 kego creek. It is six and one-eighth miles in circuit, 
 two miles long, one and a half wide, and occupies an 
 area of two square miles. There are twenty-four 
 smaller lakes, or ponds, in the western part of the 
 county, the Indian names of which are 
 
 Kenongamong, on sections five, six and seven, in 
 township four, range twenty, and about one mile long. 
 
 I^ANYACK, near the centre of township three, range 
 twenty, one and a fourth miles long, and three-fourths 
 wide. 
 
 Tisii-sHAR-GON, in township four, range nineteen : 
 is about a mile long, and discharges its waters by u 
 short stream into the Pishtaka. 
 
 Wal-keesha, is half a mile in diameter, lying be- 
 tween Wind lake and the Kenongamong.
 
 iSO RACINE COUNTY. 
 
 The PisiiTAKA RIVER, OF " Fox livcr of the Illi- 
 nois, ' is the principal stream in this county running 
 through the western tier of townships from north to 
 south. It rises in the north part of Milwaukee county, 
 and enters the Illinois river at Ottawa. It has been 
 proposed to improve the navigation of this river, by 
 means of dams and locks, so as to create a slack water 
 from its mouth, where it is connected with the Illinois 
 and Michigan canal, as far as the rapids at Prairievillc 
 — and there is no practical difficulty in the way of ac- 
 complishing this important work. From the foot of 
 the rapids at Prairieville, to Elgin, about thirty-five 
 miles south of the State line, there is a descent of ninety- 
 six feet, or nearly one foot per mile, on an average, 
 measuring the course of the river. This would re- 
 quire twelve dams, of eight feet each, and the average 
 length of each pond would be about seven or eight 
 miles. At Elgin, the river is one hundred and fifteen 
 feet above Lake Michigan, requiring that amount .of 
 lockage to unite with the Illinois canal. 
 
 The Des Plaines, is another branch of the Illinois 
 river, that rises in Racine county. It is usually called 
 the O'Plaine. Its name is derived from a species of 
 maple called plaine, by the French. Its aboriginal 
 name was She-shik-ma-o. 
 
 Root river, is about thirty-five miles in length, 
 rising in Milwaukee county, and entering Lake Mich- 
 igan at Racine. It is quite a rapid stream, as it origi- 
 nates in very high ground ; but the small quantity of 
 water renders it of but little value for hydraulic purpo- 
 Sf^s, except at the rapids near Racine. It has been
 
 RIVERS. 157 
 
 proposed to increase the quantity of water, by diverting- 
 the outlet of Muskego lake into Root river, which, it 
 is said, can be done at a small expense — thus robbing 
 the Gulf of Mexico of a portion of its legitimate sup- 
 ply for the purpose of increasing the waters of the 
 Great Lakes. It is probable that the citizens of the 
 great Mississippi valley would object to this measure, 
 and especially that portion of them who reside on and 
 near the Muskego outlet, below the proposed point of 
 diversion. No levels have been taken however, to 
 ascertain whether this can be done. It has also been 
 proposed to connect the lake with the Pishtaka, by 
 way of this outlet, by means of a canal. 
 
 Among the smaller streams in Racine county, arc 
 Pike creek. South Branch (of Root river) and Skunk 
 creek.
 
 LAKE MICHIGAN. 
 
 Having- completed the foregoing- notices of the coun- 
 ties on Lake Michigan, it seems proper here to make 
 some observations relative to this lake. It is the only- 
 one of the great chain of inland seas that lies wholly 
 within the United States. Its exact form and dimen- 
 sions cannot be ascertained until the surveys of Wis- 
 consin and Michigan are united at the north, and the 
 meanders of that portion of the lake are completed. It 
 is estimated to have a length of about three hundred 
 and twenty miles, and a mean or average breadth of 
 seventy miles — having, therefore, an area of twenty- 
 two thousand four hundred square miles. This is ex- 
 clusive of Green Bay, which may be considered as 
 only a portion of this great lake, having an area of 
 about two thousand square miles. The surface of 
 Lake Michigan is five hundred and seventy-eight feet 
 above the level of the ocean, and its mean depth is es- 
 timated at one thousand feet. The bottom is therefore, 
 about four hundred feet below the ocean level. Its
 
 LENGTH OF COAST. 159 
 
 g-reatcst width is opposite IMihvaukee, where it is 
 nearly one hundred miles. 
 
 The length of coast on Lake Michigan, as near as 
 can at present be ascertained, is as follows : 
 
 Miles. 
 In Wisconsin, from the State of Illinois to the 
 north point of Rock island, at the entrance of 
 Green Bay, (correct) 257 
 
 In Michigan, from Rock island to the narrow- 
 est point of the Straits of Mackina 159 
 
 Thence to the south line of the State 462* — 621 
 
 In Indiana __. 39 
 
 In Illinois.. 63 
 
 980 
 To this should be added Green Bay, which 
 
 has a periphery, in Wisconsin 200 m. 
 
 in Michigan 120 " 
 
 320 
 
 Total 1,300 
 
 To enable the reader to compare this lake with the 
 others, the following table is inserted, from the report 
 of Mr. S. W. Higgins, State Topographer of Michi- 
 gan : 
 
 * The Grand Traverse Bay, included in this estimate has a 
 coast line of one hundred and eleven miles ; but it is only nine 
 miles across its entrance into the lake.
 
 160 
 
 LAKE MICHIGAN. 
 
 LAKES. 
 
 Mean 
 Length. 
 Miles. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Breadth. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Depth. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Eleva- 
 tion abvc 
 ocean. 
 Feet. 
 
 Area in 
 square 
 miles. 
 
 Lake Superior. 
 
 400 
 
 80 
 
 900 
 
 596 
 
 32.000 
 
 Lake Michigan 
 
 320 
 
 70 
 
 1,000 
 
 578 
 
 22,400 
 
 Green Bay 
 
 100 
 
 20 
 
 500 
 
 578 
 
 2,000 
 
 Lake Huron. . . 
 
 240 
 
 80 
 
 LOOO 
 
 578 
 
 20.400 
 
 Lake St. Clair. 
 
 20 
 
 18 
 
 20 
 
 570 
 
 360 
 
 Lake Erie 
 
 240 
 
 40 
 
 84 
 
 565 
 
 9,600 
 
 Lake Ontario. _ 
 
 180 
 
 35 
 
 500 
 
 232 
 
 i 
 
 6.300 
 
 
 93,060 
 
 It is estimated that the water which passes out of 
 Lake Erie, is the surplus or drainage of an area of 
 335.515 square miles; and by recent measurement, 
 which appears to have been made with sufficient re- 
 gard for accuracy, it is ascertained that the quan- 
 tity of water passing into the Niagara river at Black 
 Rock, is 22,440,000 cubic feet per minute,* or about 
 eighty and one-eighth cubic miles per annum. This 
 is equivalent to fifteen inches perpendicular depth 
 of water spread over the whole area of the country- 
 drained : and therefore something less than half the an- 
 nual quantity of rain in this portion of the country. 
 From these data, it results that an increase of three 
 inches in the quantity of rain in a year, (other circum- 
 stances being the same.) would cause an increase of 
 
 See Sjlliman's Journalj for January, 1844.
 
 TIDES. 161 
 
 4,488.000 cubic feet per minute at Black Rock, or an 
 annual amount of 2,358,892,800,000 cubic feet, and re- 
 quiring an increased depth of channel at that place, of 
 about live feet, to pass this excess of water. We know, 
 from observations made with care, that such variations 
 in the annual quantity of rain do often occur. Need 
 we therefore wonder, that there is a periodical rise and 
 fall of the surface of these lakes? There is an annual 
 change of level resulting from the same cause. In 
 winter, when the supply of water to the lakes is very 
 much diminished, they sink ; and during the early 
 part of the summer, they attain their greatest elevation, 
 resulting from the melting of snow, and from the 
 spring rains. 
 
 The question whether there is a regular tide on the 
 lakes, still remains undecided. That there are strong 
 and variable currents in Lake Michigan, has been 
 known ever since the days of Hennepin ; and sailors 
 often discover, that upon casting anchor, their vessels 
 turn around against the wind by the force of this cur- 
 rent. This of course will only happen when the 
 wind is light, and in a direction opposed to the current. 
 It is evident that this current cannot be caused by the 
 passage of the waters of the river through the lake, 
 especially in Lake Michigan, which may be consid- 
 ered as a branch, and not a part of the great river that 
 connects the lakes ; and besides, the current is as often 
 in a direction up the lake as down it. What then can 
 be the cause of this constant motion of the waters'? Is 
 it a tidal wave ? 
 
 It is believed that this phenomenon may be fully 
 
 a
 
 162 LAKE MICHIGAN. 
 
 accounted for by observing the effects of the storm- 
 winds on the lake. A heavy northeast wind, which is 
 by far the most common, will cause an accumulation 
 of waters at the south end of the lake. This excess of 
 water being acted upon by gravitation, seeks its level, 
 and returns with great force towards the north — hence 
 causing an undulation, or tide, which perhaps will 
 continue to ebb and flow until another storm will act 
 upon the lake, and produce the same results, keeping 
 the water in constant motion, and causing it to rise and 
 fall at particular places as much as four feet. 
 
 Wherever any reck is found in places on the imme- 
 diate shore of this lake, it is invariably limestone, 
 which usually lies near the surface of the water, and 
 never forms high cliffs, like those of the Mississippi 
 river. On the west shore, the rock is covered, from 
 twenty to one hundred feet^ by a deposite of clay, and 
 on the east, or Michigan side, it supports about the 
 same depth of loose, moving sand. The action of the 
 waves upon the west shore is constantly wearing it 
 away at the base, causing large masses to fall into the 
 water, where it is worn down and deposited in the 
 bottom of the lake. Hence this bank is uniformly as 
 near perpendicular as the nature of the material will 
 admit. It is impossible to climb it, in most places, and 
 it is as often dangerous to approach too near the margin, 
 the earth on which you stand may soon be precipitated 
 an hundred feet into the water of the lake. 
 
 While the water is thus wasting away the west 
 shore, it is constantly causing an accumulation of sand 
 on the cast shore ; which being thrown up by tho
 
 ANCIENT CHANGES OF LEVEI,. 1G3 
 
 waves during heavy seas, soon becomes dry, and is 
 carried inland by the action of the winds. This loose 
 sand forms hills, varying in height from ten to one 
 hundred and fifty feet, whose forms are constantly 
 changing by the moving of the sand by the winds : 
 and it is remarked, that the sand is gradually encroach- 
 ing upon the land, and may, unless some sufficient bar- 
 rier is opposed to its progress, eventually spread eve'- 
 a considerable portion of the State of Michigan.* 
 
 Lake Michigan may therefore be considered a? 
 adopting tbȣ spirit bf the age, and moving to the 
 west ! Whether the encroachment on Wisconsin is 
 balanced by the accumulation in Michigan, or whether 
 the lake is increasing or diminishing in width, cannot 
 easily be determined. As the ground rises immedi- 
 ately west of the shore, and is based upon limestone 
 rock, lying at a considerable elevation above the water, 
 it is evident that the progress of the lake in that direc- 
 tion will soon be stopped. 
 
 While the Topographers of Ohio and Michigan are 
 able to trace ancient lake beaches around Lake Erie, 
 having an elevation of about one hundred and eight 
 feet above the present surface of the water, we cannot 
 find evidence about Lake Michigan, of such ancient 
 elevation, but on the contrary, there are some facts that 
 
 * This kind of calamity is prevented in Holland, by sowing; the 
 sand hills or dunes, annually, with the seed of a reedy grass, 
 {Arundo arenaria) which finds in the sand a kind and congenial 
 soil. The roots soon spread, strike deeply into the ground, ana 
 so intertwine that the sand is held firmly between them ; and as 
 the growth of the grass is luxuriant, the decomposition of its suc- 
 cessive crops renders the soil, (it is said) sufficiently rich to pro- 
 duce potatoes, and to bear plantations of firs. (See Report c' 
 Capt. G. W. Hughes, to the Topographical Bureau, 1343.)
 
 IG4 LAKE MICHIGAN'. 
 
 tend to show that this lake was once lower than at pre- 
 sent. The appearances about the mouths of every con- 
 siderable stream, evince that they once were lower, 
 wearing their beds some fifteen or twenty feet below 
 the present surface of the water. The subsequent ele- 
 vation of the lake has caused the water to set back on 
 these rivers, in some cases two or three miles, causing- 
 deep pools of " back water," and affording convenient 
 basins for the accommodation of shipping. In what 
 other way could these river beds have been excavated 
 to so great a depth? Surely the slight current at pro- 
 sent seen could not have been the cause. 
 
 Lake Michigan now discharges its waters through 
 the straits of Mackina, (Michillimackinac of older wri- 
 ters) into Lake Huron, but there is abundant evidence 
 that it once flowed south through the valley of the Il- 
 linois, and thus contributed to swell the mighty flood 
 of the Father of Waters. It is the opinion of some 
 that there was once a barrier across the straits of 
 Mackina, and in those ancient days it is probable that 
 Lakes Superior, Huron and Erie, may have been tri- 
 butary to Lake Michigan, and their accumulated wa- 
 ters were sent down the valley of the Illinois. Facts 
 well known to geologists prove that there have been in 
 former times great changes in the relative elevation of 
 land in different places ; some parts having been eleva- 
 ted, while others were depressed. Indeed, this opera- 
 tion is now going on gradually in some parts of the 
 world. May we not therefore, suppose that similar 
 changes have taken place in the region of these lakes ? 
 A depression of the country about the Niagara river
 
 REMARKABLE RIDGES. 1G5 
 
 cf one hundred and eight feet, and an elevation of the 
 northern portions of Illinois of only forty feet, -would 
 produce all the changes here indicated. These changes 
 of level would reduce Lake Erie to the original level 
 of Lake Michigan, and at the same time elevate the 
 latter so as to turn its waters into their present course. 
 
 The description of Lake Michigan, and the interest- 
 ing facts connected with it, would not be complete with- 
 out a notice of the remarkable succession of sand ridges 
 between Chicago and Michigan City, described by 
 Prof C. U. Shepard; 
 
 '• On drawing near the head of the lake, by the way 
 of the road to Michigan City, we find the surface ofthe 
 prairie invaded far inland, by a succession of ancient 
 beaches, formed with the utmost regularity as to width 
 and height, as well as conformity to the existing shore 
 of the lake. Leaving Chicago, the road for about fif- 
 teen niiles, is on the beach, or just behind it on the bor- 
 der of the level prairie. It then begins to diverge 
 from the shore, and passes obliquely across a succes- 
 sion of ridges, each resembling a turnpike in its round- 
 ed form. These ridges are wooded, while the inter- 
 vals between them consist of wet marsh or level prairie. 
 Advantage is taken of the ridges, as far as possible, 
 for the course ofthe road. After proceeding a number 
 of miles in a southeasterly direction, the road takes a 
 south course at right angles to the coast, and runs for a 
 distance of five miles, over about fifty of these ridges. 
 They vary from four to ten rods in width, each one, 
 however, preserving with exact uniformit_v, its own 
 breadth, and separated from each other by intervals
 
 166 LAKE MICHIGAN. 
 
 of from six to forty rods. Wlicn midway between any 
 two beaches, the eye is presented in opposite directions, 
 with an almost interminable vista, whose bounding 
 lines of trees arc perceived to be slightly curvilinear, 
 the curvature of the ridges corresponding exactly to 
 the broad sweep of the lake shore. No visible differ- 
 ence of level is apparent in the beaches, while the 
 marshy prairie between them is so low and sunken as 
 t(5 be almost impassable, and apparently corresponds in 
 level with the prairie in the rear of Chicago. 
 
 "At the termination of the above series, commences 
 a new order of ridges,, all of which are situated at a 
 somewhat higher level. They have an average width 
 of only one hundred and twenty feet, and are separated 
 by depressions of the same dimensions. In these, both 
 the ridge and the valley are dry, and wooded. The 
 road crosses them for a distance of one mile, after 
 Avhich, assuming a more easterly course, it descends 
 upon a flat prairie, about three miles wide. 
 
 '• The succression of beaches described, would appear 
 to have been occasioned by the action of southerly 
 -winds, operating on the whole range of the lake, 
 thereby producing an accumulation of water in this 
 region, as well as a strong impulsive action upon the 
 bottom of the lake, from the motion of the sea towards 
 the shore," 
 
 This explanation, it is believed, would account very 
 satisfactorily for the formation of a single beach line, 
 and perhaps of an extensive flat of level sandy prairie ; 
 but it is difficult to conceive how it should produce a 
 regular succession of such beaches, separated by inter-
 
 NAVIGATION'. 1G7 
 
 veiling valleys : so that this iijatter remains to be here- 
 after explained. 
 
 Lake Michigan is destitute of islands, except a few 
 near its northern extremity, and it is unfortunate for 
 the interests of navigation that it does not present along 
 its shores many deep and narrow bays, or other pla- 
 ces of security for vessels during heavy winds. In 
 this respect, however, its character is quite similar 
 to the other lakes. Navigation usually commences 
 in the spring about the middle or last of March on 
 this lake; but as the straits of Mackina remains 
 closed with ice after that time, wo usually have no ar- 
 rivals from below until about a month later, as shown 
 by the following statement of the arrival of the first 
 steamboat at Milwaukee, since the first year of their 
 siavigating this lake; 
 
 In 1837 May 28 James Madison. 
 
 1838 April 26 Pennsylvania. 
 
 1 839 April 30_ _ Columbus. 
 
 1840 April 11 Chesapeake. 
 
 1841 April 25 Great Western. 
 
 1842 March 2G Chesapeake. 
 
 1843 May 8 Bunker Hill. 
 
 Mean or average, April 2G — being about the same 
 time that Lake Erie is open at Buffalo. But as that 
 lake is open from Cleveland, and the other points west 
 of Buftalo to its western extremity, about a month be- 
 fore this time, it will be seen, that upon the completion 
 of the rail road throu"-h Michiofan. and the southern
 
 168 LAKE MICHIGAN. 
 
 rail road in New-York, the merchants of Wisconsin 
 can receive their spring goods, and commence sending 
 offtheir winter's supply of produce, lead, &,c., a month 
 earlier than at present. 
 
 We may also look forward to the time, certainly not 
 very distant, when this lake will be navigated during 
 the whole winter.
 
 WALWORTH COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Milwaukee and Jeffet' 
 son counties : on the east by Racine ; on the south by 
 the State of Illinois : and on the west by Rock county ; 
 embracing the townships numbered one. two, three and 
 four, in the ranges numbered fifteen, sixteen, seventeen 
 and eighteen. It is therefore, twenty-four miles square? 
 and contains sixteen townships, or five hundred and 
 seventy-six square miles or sections. It Avas set off 
 from Milwaukee county, in 1836, and organised as a 
 separate county in 1838. The population of this flour- 
 ishing county was then (1838) one thousand and nine- 
 teen. In 1840, it had more than doubled, being two 
 thousand six hundred and eleven ; and in 1842, it had 
 almost doubled again, being then four thousand six 
 hundred and eighteen. The county seat is established 
 at Elkhorn, which is exactly at the centre of the county, 
 
 This county occupies the high ground, or summit 
 between th.e waters of the Pishtaka, which runs through 
 Racine county east of it, and Rock river, which runs 
 through Rock county at the west. It is one of ths 
 richest and most important agricultural counties in
 
 170 WALWORTH COUNTY. 
 
 the Territory ; possessing a rich soil, with about the 
 proper proportion of timber and prairie land to suit 
 the convenience and fancy of the first settlers, of a new 
 country — hence its rapid settlement. It has no abrupt 
 or steep hills, deep valleys, and but little waste land of 
 any kind. It is well watered by numerous small 
 lakes in the north part of the county, and three larger 
 ones at the south part, and by numerous springs and 
 rivulets. The position of Walworth county, midway 
 between Lake Michigan and Rock river (which will 
 ultimately be made navigable) must render it impor- 
 tant, by havirig'a choice of two markets for the surplus 
 produce. 
 
 The principal villages are Elkhorn, Troy, Geneva, 
 Delavan and Whitewater. 
 
 The town system was adopted in this county, and 
 for the purposes of government, it is divided into the 
 following tov^ns : 
 
 Bloomfield, township one, range eighteen. 
 Darien, township two, range fifteen. 
 Delavan, township two, range sixteen. 
 East Troy, township four, range eighteen. 
 Elkhorn, township three, range sixteen. 
 Geneva, township two, range seventeen, 
 Hudson, township two, range eighteen. 
 La Fayette, township three, range seventeen. 
 La Grange, township four, range sixteen. 
 Lynn, township one, range seventeen. 
 Richmond, township three, range fifteen. 
 Sharon, township one, range fifteen.
 
 STATISTICS. 171 
 
 Spring Prairie, township three, range eighteen. 
 TroYj township four, range seventeen. 
 Walworth, township one, range sixteen. 
 Whitewater, township four, range fifteen. 
 
 There were in this county in 1840, agreeably to the 
 census, 409 horses, 2.8G1 neat cattle, 410 sheep, 6,380 
 swine, 10 stores and groceries, 1 distillery, 3 grist 
 mills, and 7 saw mills. The products of 1839. were 
 59,580 bushels of wheat, 1,499 of barley, 35,155 of 
 oats, 205 of rye, 1,754 of buckwheat, 40,837 of Indian 
 corn, and 4-2.455 of potatoes, 3,624 tons of hay, and 
 one pound of reeled silk. These statistics will show 
 what crops are usually raised in this county, and the 
 proportion they bear to one another. 
 
 There are twelve post ofiices in Walworth county : 
 at Bigfoot, Darien, Delavan, Elkhorn, Fairfield, 
 Franklin, Heart Prairie, Lyonsdale, Round Prairie, 
 Sugar Creek, Troy and Whitewater. 
 
 The principal streams in this county are Honey 
 creek, Sugar creek, and Geneva creek, which unite to 
 form a branch of the Pishtaka at Burlington ; and 
 Turtle creek, and Whitewater, in the western part of 
 the county. Geneva creek, is the outlet of a lake of 
 the same name, about twelve miles in length, and af- 
 fords some valuable water power. Honey creek and 
 Sugar creek, rise in range sixteen, and run east par- 
 allel with each other about twelve miles, and unite 
 near the east line of the county.
 
 172 WALWORTH COUXTY. 
 
 There are twenty-four Likes in Walworth county, 
 all very small, except the three following: 
 
 Geneva lake, eight miles long, and a little more 
 than one mile average breadth, covering an area of 
 5,423 acres, or nearly eight and a half square miles ; 
 and having a periphery of nineteen miles. It was for- 
 merly called Big foot lake, from some fancied resem- 
 blance of its form to that of the human foot. Il is sup- 
 plied mostly from springs, not having any considerable 
 tributary. It is principally in township one, range 
 seventeen, and its longest diameter lies nearly due east 
 and west. Fontana is at the head of this lake, and Ge- 
 neva is at the foot. 
 
 Turtle lake, covers an area of fifteen hundred 
 acres, or nearly two and one-third miles ; length, two 
 and a half miles ; width, one mile. It is near the 
 source of Turtle creek, a tributary of Rock river, at 
 Beloit. 
 
 CoMO LAKE, lies two miles north of Geneva lake; 
 three and one-eighth miles long ; average width nearly 
 half a mile ; periphery six and three-fourths miles ; 
 and having an area of nine hundred and twenty-four 
 acres.
 
 ROCK COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Jefferson and Dane ; on 
 the east by Walworth ; on the west by Green county : 
 and on the south by the State of Illinois : embracing 
 townships one, two, three and four, in ranges ten, 
 eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen, being thirty miles 
 long, from east to west, and twenty-four miles wide. 
 It derives its name from Rock river, which runs 
 through it from north to south near the middle of the 
 county. Rock, once formed a part of Milwaukee 
 county, from which it was separated in 1836, and or- 
 ganised in 1839, The population in 1838, was four 
 hundred and eighty; in 1840 it was one thousand 
 seven hundred and one ; and in 1842 it was two thou- 
 sand eight hundred and sixty-seven. 
 
 The county seat is at Janesville, a flourishing vil- 
 lage with three hundred and thirty-three inhabitants, 
 according to a recent enumeration, situated on the east 
 side of Rock river, at the southeast corner of township 
 three, range twelve, being near the centre of the county. 
 It is situated on a flat, or level, about two hundred 
 yards wide, between the river and the foot of the bluff*,
 
 174 ROCK COUNTV. 
 
 which are about one hundred feet high. The court 
 house is erected on the bluff, giving it a very promi- 
 nent appearance. There are several stores, two tav- 
 erns, various mechanic shops, &;c. Janesville is the 
 point at which much of the trade between the eastern 
 and western portions of the Territory crosses Rock 
 river, and a bridge is now erected for its accommoda- 
 tion. The distance from Janesville to Milwaukee, is 
 sixty-five miles, and it is the same to Racine ; giving 
 the- citizens a choice of two ports on Lake Michigan, 
 which can be reached in the same distance. Janesville 
 is 13 miles from Beloit, 41 from Madison, 31 from 
 Monroe, and abont 80 from Mineral Point. A com- 
 pany has been incorporated to construct a rail road 
 from this place to the lake shore. 
 
 Beloit, is situated on a beautiful plain, on the east 
 side of Rock river, near the south line of the Territory, 
 and immediately above the rnouth of Turtle creek, a 
 considerable stream, afibrding a valuable water powder 
 within the limits of the town. On one side of the town 
 the ground rises abruptly some fifty or sixty feet, afford- 
 ing very beautiful sites for residences, commanding a 
 view of the town, the river, 6lc. By an enumeration 
 taken late in 1843, it appears that Beloit contains seven 
 hundred and forty-five inhabitants, and one hundred 
 and thirty-six houses ; and the amount of capital in- 
 vested in different kinds of business, is estimated at 
 $133,200. There are two large flouring mills in ope- 
 ration here, one of them built of grey limestone ; and 
 this is also the material used in the construction of the 
 Congregational Church, which is represented as one
 
 POST OFFICES. 175 
 
 of the most beautiful churches in Wisconsin. A Sem- 
 inary was incorporated here in 1837, and a manufac< 
 turing company in 1839. The society at this place, 
 is represented as excellent, for intelligence, morality 
 and religion. 
 
 RocKPORT, is the oldest village or settlement, in the 
 county, having been commenced in 1836. It is on the 
 west side of Rock river, half a mile below Janesville, 
 and at the head of a rapid, having about seven feet fall 
 in a distance of one and a half miles. 
 
 Post offices have been established in Rock county 
 at the. following places: Beloit, Janesville. Johnstown^ 
 Milton, Union and Warren. 
 
 The land in this county, on the west side of Rock 
 river, was offered for sale at Green Bay, in 1835, dur- 
 ing the wild rage for speculation in lands, and much 
 of it was then sold to speculators, who hokl it with the 
 hope of an increased value, and without making im- 
 provements, or occupying the land. The best loca- 
 tions being thus taken up, this part of the county has 
 been but little settled, although it presents many in- 
 ducements for the farmer. East of Rock river, the 
 lands were occupied, to a considerable extent, before 
 they were brought into market by the government, and 
 consequently have fallen into the hands of actual set- 
 tlers, and been improved and occupied for useful pur- 
 poses. This part of the county is, however, almost one 
 continued prairie, that portion not represented on the 
 maps as such, being but slightly covered with trees or 
 bushes. This great prairie, the largest in the Terri- 
 tory, is known as Rock Prairie. The eastern portion
 
 17G ROCK COUNTY. 
 
 of the county is based on limestone; towards Sugar 
 river, red sandstone is found. 
 
 Agreeably to the census there were in 1840, in this 
 county. 380 horses, 1,504 neat cattle, 131 sheep. 3.560 
 swine, I distillery, 2 grist mills and 5 saw mills ; and 
 the produce of the preceding year, is stated at 24,702 
 bushels of wheat, 312 of barley, 21,990 of oats, 483 of 
 rye, 741 of buckwheat, 31,329 of Indian corn, and 
 28,605 of potatoes; 2,089 tons of hay, and 1,400 pounds 
 of maple sugar. 
 
 Lake Koshkonong, which lies principally in Jef- 
 ferson county, extends a short distance into Rock ; and 
 there are twelve small lakes in the county — none of 
 them, however, exceeding a mile in length. Deer 
 LAKE, on section twenty, in township four, range thir- 
 teen, is about a mile long, and covers eighty-seven 
 acres. 
 
 The following towns have been established by the 
 legislature, in this county, the town system of govern- 
 ment having been adopted by a vote of the people : 
 
 Beloit, township one, in ranges ten, eleven and twelve, 
 and west half of thirteen, and also the south- 
 west quarter of township two, range thirteen. 
 
 Centre, township two, and the south half of township 
 three, in ranges ten and eleven. 
 
 Clinton, township one, and the south half of town- 
 ship two, in range fourteen, and the east half 
 of range fifteen, 
 
 Fulton, township four, range twelve.
 
 TOWN?. 177 
 
 Janesville. township three, ranges twelve and thir- 
 teen, and north half of township two, in ran- 
 ges thirteen and fourteeu, 
 
 Johnstown, township three, range foiirteeii. 
 
 Milton, township four, ranges thirteen and fourteen. 
 
 Rock, township two, range twelve. 
 
 Union, township four, and north half of township 
 three, ranges ten and elcTen, 
 
 12
 
 JEFFERSON COUNTY, 
 
 Is boiuidod on the north by Dodge county ; cast by 
 Milwaukee : south by Walworth and Rock counties ; 
 and west by Dane. It is twenty-four miles square, or 
 four townships wide, and four long — being townships 
 five, six, seven and eight, in ranges thirteen, fourteen, 
 fifteen and sixteen. The county seat is at Jefferson, 
 near the " forks" of Rock river, and very near the 
 centre of the county. It was set off from Milwaukee 
 county, in 1836, and organised as a separate county in 
 1839, The population of Jefferson county, in 1838, 
 two years after the first settlement was commenced, 
 was four hundred and sixty-eight : in 1840, it had in- 
 creased to nine hundred and fourteen ; and in 1842, to 
 one thousand six hundred and thirty-eight. It may 
 now be safely estimated at two thousand five hundred. 
 
 That portion of the county lying east of Rock river^ 
 and north of Bark river, is covered with timber, among 
 ■which may be found some of the finest trees in the 
 Territory; the remainder of the county is " openings," 
 except a few square miles near the Whitewater and 
 Scupernong, which are prairie. Within the timbered
 
 STATISTICS. 179 
 
 district, there is a remarkable series of ridges running 
 iiortli and south, and crossed by the United States road. 
 In a distance of about nine miles, extending through 
 range fifteen and the west half of fourteen, the road 
 crosses no less than sixteen of these parallel ridges and 
 intervening valleys, averaging, therefore, about half a 
 mile apart. There is usually a narrow swamp be- 
 tween them, covered with black ash or tamarack trees. 
 They extend from two to five miles, in a north and 
 south direction, and are gradually attenuated at each 
 extremity. Along Bark river, immediately south of 
 these ridges, there are some extensive marshes, which 
 once, probably, formed the bottom of a large lake. 
 Other portions of Jeflerson county are more gently 
 rolling, or level. There is much excellent farmino- 
 land in this county, especially along the rivers : and 
 Rock river valley maintains here, the high reputation 
 which it so deservedly has farther south. 
 
 The geographical position of this county, lying in 
 the direct route between Milwaukee, the principal port 
 on Lake Michigan, and the capital of the Territory, i? 
 believed to afford it some advantages ; and with all her 
 other advantages and sources of wealth, we cannot but 
 anticipate the time when Jefferson will be known as 
 one of the principal counties. The inhabitants are in- 
 dustrious, enterprising and public spirited : as is evin- 
 ced by the fact that, in one year, six bridges were built 
 across Rock river and its main branch. 
 
 The statistics collected in 1840, show 100 horses. 
 1,045 neat cattle, 32 sheep, 1,7G3 hogs, 1 store and 4 
 saw mills. The products of 1839 were, 6.647 bushel?
 
 130 JEFFERSON COUNTY. 
 
 of wheat. 400 of barley, 4,405 of oats, 180 of rye, 118 
 of buckwheat, 15,192 of Indian corn, and 14,410 of 
 potatoes ; 1,820 tons of hay, 13,050 pounds of maple 
 sugar, and fifteen thousand seven hundred and eighty 
 dollars worth of lumber produced. 
 
 The town system was adopted, and the county is 
 divided into seven towns. 
 
 AzTALAN. — This town is bounded as follows: be- 
 ciii at the northwest corner of the county, and run 
 thence east nine piiles ; thence south six miles ; thence 
 cast three miles ; thence south four miles ; thence west, 
 to the west branch of Kock river : thence down that 
 river, south, two miles, to the township line: thence 
 west to the county line, and north to the beginning^. 
 The population of this town in 1840, was two hundred 
 and fifty, and it then contained 30 horses, 337 cattle, 
 23 sheep, 311 swine, &.c. The village of Aztalan is 
 situated on the west bank of the West Branch, on the 
 United States road leading from Milwaukee to the Mis- 
 sissippi, by way of Madison — distant from Milwaukee 
 about fifty miles, and from Madison thirty. It is very 
 prettily situated, on the sloping bank of the river, im- 
 mediately above the '-ancient city" from which it de- 
 rives its name. 
 
 This ancient artificial earthwork, consists of an ob- 
 long enclosure, about five hundred and fifty yards in 
 length, and two hundred and seventy-five yards in 
 breadth, lying along the bank of the river. The walls 
 are twenty-three feet wide at the base, and four or five 
 feet high, having (except on the river side) an exterior 
 semi-circular enlargement, or buttress, and a corres-
 
 AZTALAN. 181 
 
 ponding interior recess every twenty-seven yards, la 
 some parts of the wall, and especially in the bnttresse?, 
 the earth of which it is composed, appears to have been 
 mixed -with straw, and burned in such manner as lo 
 resemble slightly burnt brick. There is no evidence 
 that this substance was ever moulded into regular 
 form. Within this enclosure arc several remarkable 
 mounds and excavations, and an unusual number of 
 mounds (many of them very large,) are found in the 
 immediate vicinity, indicating that this spot was once 
 occupied by a very numerous population, which con- 
 tinued to reside here for a great length of time. The 
 place described as the " termination of a sewer about 
 three feet below the surface, and arched with stone," 
 appears to be not a regular arch, nor even a sewer. It 
 is remarked, that w^e have yet no evidence that the an- 
 cient inhabitants of this continent were acquainted witli 
 the nature and properties of an arch. Aztalan, accord- 
 ing to Humboldt, is the ancient name of the country 
 from which the people of Mexico called Azteeks, emi- 
 grated : and this is described as lying far to the north. 
 Hence a little fancy only is necessary to locate tiiis 
 country in Wisconsin, and at the place where the an- 
 cient works appear to be most extensive and interest- 
 in o-. These works were first explored, and a descrip- 
 tion of them published, in 183G, by N. F. Hyer, Esq. 
 Rock lake is near the middle of the town of Aztalan ; 
 two miles and three quarters long, one mile and a 
 quarter wide, and covers an area of -sixteen hundred 
 and fifty three acres, or a little over two and a halt 
 sections. Its name is derived from the unusual num-
 
 13;i JEFFERSON COUNTY. 
 
 bcr of rocks along the shore, thrown up by the expan- 
 sion of ice in winter, into a ridge, in many places seve- 
 ral feet in height. It discharges its waters through a 
 small stream in a northeasterly direction in the west 
 branch. The shores of this lake are high, and present 
 a beautiful prospect to the eye. 
 
 At the outlet of this lake, a water power has been 
 created, mills erected, and a small village called Keyes- 
 viLLE, has sprung up within the last year or two. 
 
 Bark river, is the name of a town embracing 
 townships five, and the south half of six, in ranges fif- 
 teen and sixteen — being twelve miles long, from east 
 to west, and nine miles wide, and occupying the south- 
 east corner of the county. The south part of the town 
 is prairie, and the north part timbered land. Bark 
 river, Scupernong and Whitewater, are the principal 
 streams. The Bark river here affords a water power, 
 which was improved by the "Bark River Company," 
 at an early day. The population in 1840, was fifty- 
 three. 
 
 The town of Jefferson, embraces township six, 
 range fourteen, and two miles of the south part of 
 township seven, east of the West Branch ; also the north 
 iialf of township six, and the south two miles of town- 
 ship seven, in ranges fifteen and sixteen. Its popula- 
 tion in 1840, was two hundred and fifty; and it then 
 had 18 horses, 229 neat cattle, and 445 swine. The 
 village is situated on the east side of the river, a short 
 distance above the junction of the West Branch, and 
 contains a tavern, store, mechanic's shop and numer- 
 ous dwellings. A dam has been constructed across
 
 TOWNS, 183 
 
 the river, causing a valuable water power, on which a 
 saw mill has been erected. The western termination 
 of the i\lihvaukee and Rock River Canal, as located, 
 is a short distance above this village, " 
 
 KosiiKoxoxG, occupies the southwest corner of the 
 county, being twelve miles long, from east to west, and 
 six miles wide. Lake Koshkonong, (the iake-we-live- 
 on.) lies principally in this town, and gives name to it. 
 This lake may be considered as an expansion of Rock 
 river : eight miles long, two and five-eighths miles av- 
 erage width, occupying an area of twenty-one sections 
 or square miles^ and having a periphery, measuring all 
 the sinuosities of the shore, of twenty-eight and three- 
 fourths miles. Immediately at the entrance of the 
 Jake, there is a rapid current extending six hundred 
 feet into the lake, with only from 'two to three feet 
 depth of water. Through the remainder of the lake, 
 on the usual channel or track for boats and rafts, the 
 water is from four to twelve feet deep. The town of 
 Koshkonong in 1S40, had one hundred and forty-three 
 inhabitants ; 26 horses, 193 neat cattle, 9 sheep, and 
 316 hogs. Fort Atkinson, is a thriving village, situa- 
 ted on both sides of Rock river, at the north part of 
 this town, and immediately below the mouth of Bark 
 river. It is understood that a temporary fort was erec- 
 ted here during the Black Hawk war; hence the name. 
 
 Oakland, is a town organised in 1843, to embrace 
 the surveyed township six, in range thirteen, lying 
 north of Lake Koshkonong, and west from Jefferson. 
 
 Union, embraces township eight, and the north four 
 miles of township seven, in range sixteen, being in the
 
 184 JEFFERSON COUNT V. 
 
 northeast part olthe county. It embraces some of tliu 
 finest land near the Oconomewoc, from which, in 1843; 
 was raised perhaps the best crop of wheat in Wiscon- 
 sin. Rock river' runs through Union, and a conside- 
 rable portion of Peck's rapids, are within this town. 
 
 Watertown, embraces township eight, and the 
 north four miles of township seven, in range fifteen^ 
 and also the east half of township eight, range fifteen. 
 Rock river runs through this town, in a northwest di- 
 rection, and then turning suddenly about, crosses it 
 again towards the southwest. The population in 1840 
 was two hundred and eighteen : and it had then 20 
 horses, 203 neat cattle, and 441 swine. The village of 
 Watertown is situated on Rock river, near the great 
 bend, and at the foot of Johnson's rapids, where a dam 
 across the river cVeates one of the most valuable water 
 privileges in the country. There is here one grist 
 mill, two saw mills, two taverns, and quit© a number 
 of dwelling houses. The improvements are on both 
 sides of the river ; which is from two hundred to 
 four hundred feet wide, and bordered by steep banks 
 of limestone rock. The descent on these rapids is 
 twenty-four and one-fourth feet: and the dam creates 
 a head of about nine and a half feet. 
 
 There are ten small lakes in Jefferson county, be* 
 sides the two larger ones (Koshkonong and Rock) al- 
 ready described. 
 
 Ripley lake, in Oakland, occupies parts of sections 
 five, six and seven ; is a mile and a half long, and OC' 
 cupies an area of four hundred and ninety-three acres. 
 The coast lino around it, is four miles and three-eighthsk
 
 KIVEUS. 185 
 
 Red Cedar lake, lies one mile south of Ixipley 
 lake; one and a fourth miles long, five. and a fourth 
 around, has a very irregular form, and covers an area 
 of five hundred and nine acres. It discharges its wa- 
 ters into Lake Koshkonong. 
 
 Cranberry lake, is in sections twenty-two, twen- 
 ty-three, and twenty-seven, in township seven, and 
 range sixteen ; about which an abundance of cranber- 
 ries were found when surveying the canal through 
 this region. 
 
 Jefferson county is peculiarly favored as it regards 
 rivers. Rock river runs in every direction in passing 
 through it — entering at the northeast corner, and leav- 
 ing it at the southwest corner ; and the West Branch, 
 or Crawfish, almost equal in size to Rock river itself. 
 runs more than half w^ay through the county before it 
 unites with the main river. The Oconomewoc, a con- 
 siderable stream, the outlet of a series of small lakes in 
 Milwaukee county, runs nearly through the town of 
 Union, and then unites with Rock river. Johnson's 
 creek, is a small stream, affording water sufffcient to 
 propel a saw mill, at a point on the United States road. 
 The Koshkonong creek runs near the west line of the 
 county, partly in this and partly in Dane counties. 
 The Scupernong, and Whitewater, are two important 
 branches of Bark river ; and Bark river is here a con- 
 siderable stream, affording Avater power. The Indian 
 name of this river is Onakick, or "Peel-bark" rivev. 
 It rises in Washington county, and passing through 
 the northwest part of Milwaukee county, enters Rock 
 river at Fort Atkinson, six milts above Lake Koshko-
 
 186 JEFFERSON COUNTY. 
 
 nong. A part of its course is through some extensive 
 marshes, where it is occasionally lost in the tall grass. 
 Its source is on very elevated ground, so that it may 
 be used in supplying the summit level of a canal 
 across the country in this direction. 
 
 The Cra\yfisii, or West Branch of Rock river, rises 
 near the northwest corner of Dodge county, where it 
 receives the waters of Fox lake, and runs directly 
 south, being confined almost exclusively to one range 
 of townships, (range fourteen.) " In ascending this 
 branch from its mouth," at Jefferson, says Capt. Cram, 
 in his report, " the minimum depth of water for six 
 miles, is believed to be not less than four feet in low 
 stages. About one and a half miles above Aztalan, 
 there is a rapid of about two and a half feet fall in half 
 a mile. On this rapid, during the lowest stages of 
 water, the depth is not over ten inches. Above this 
 rapid the stream is tranquil, and has a depth of five feet 
 for about ten miles ; above which there occurs a series 
 of rapids with only about ten inches of water for half a 
 mile. There is an abundance of water in the Craw- 
 fish for all purposes of navigation, and there is no 
 doubt of its being susceptible of being improved within 
 moderate limits of expense." 
 
 Post offices have been established at the eight fol- 
 lowing places in Jefferson county : Aztalan, Cold 
 Spring, Fort Atkinson, Littleton, Union Centre and 
 Watertown.
 
 DODGE COUNTY. 
 
 So named in honor of General Henry Dodge, first 
 Governor of Wisconsin, and now Delegate to Con- 
 gress, is bounded on the north by Fond du Lac ; on 
 the east by Sheboygan and Washington ; on the south 
 by Milwaukee and Jefierson ; and on the west by Dane 
 and Portage counties. It is five townships, or thirty 
 miles square, embracing townships numbered nine to 
 thirteen, in ranges numbered thirteen to seventeen, all 
 inclusive. Its area is nine hundred square miles, or 
 five hundred and seventy-six thousand acres. Dodge 
 vras set off from Brown county, in 1836, and organised 
 as a separate county in 1840 : and is to be organised 
 for judicial purposes in 1844. In 1838 it had a popu- 
 lation amounting to eighteen, and in 1842 it had in- 
 creased to one hundred and forty-nine : but such has 
 been the rapid settlement of the county that the popu- 
 lation is now estimated at one thousand. 
 
 In 1840, there were in Dodge county, 40 horses. 
 150 neat cattle, lOo swine: and the produce of the pre- 
 ceding year is stated to be 2,100 bushels of oats. 2,000
 
 188 DODfJE COUNTY. 
 
 of Indian corn, 2.425 of potatoes, 500 tons of hay, and 
 five hundred dollars worth of skins and furs. 
 
 There arc five hikes in Dodge county. The lar* 
 gest is 
 
 Fox LAKE, lying in the northwest corner township ; 
 about three miles long and two wide, and forming the 
 source of the Crawfish liver. It has nearly a regular 
 oval form, and a small island towards the east end. 
 
 "Lake Emily, is two and a half miles northwest 
 from Fox Lake, and is only about three-fourths of a 
 mile in length. 
 
 The AViNNEBAGo INIarsh, lying on Rock river, 
 near its source, is principally in this county, and is, 
 perhaps, the most extensive marsh in Wisconsin, be- 
 ing fourteen miles long, five and a half wide, and cov- 
 ering an area of forty-four square miles. The river 
 in passing through it, is often divided into several 
 channels, and sometimes it is almost impossible to 
 trace it through the high rank grass, &c., with which 
 the marsh is covered. It occupies parts of townships 
 twelve, thirteen and fourteen, in ranges fifteen and 
 sixteen. 
 
 Rock river, enters Dodge county near the head of 
 the Winnebago marsh, and runs in a direction almost 
 ilue south through the county, and is here navigable, 
 with the exception of a distance of about three-fourths of 
 a mile at Hustis' rapids, where there is a fall of nearly 
 seven feet, requiring improvement, and aflbrding a 
 water power of great force and value. Hustis' rapids 
 are about twelve miles below the marsh. The bottom 
 of the river here affords excellent foundations, and good 
 materials for improvements, are found near by.
 
 RIVERS. 1S9 
 
 Crawiish river, the outlet of Fox lake, runs par- 
 allel to Rock river, and about twelve miles west of it. 
 This stream also runs through the county, from north 
 to south. 
 
 OssiN RIVER, sometimes, but improperly called Rock 
 river, rises in Washington county, and running west- 
 ward with a remarkably crooked course, enters Rock 
 river in township twelve, near the foot of the Winne- 
 bago marsh. 
 
 The Rubicon, is another branch of Rock river, 
 which rises in a small lake near the Musquewoc 
 lake, in Washington county, and running west, en- 
 ters Rock river three miles below Hustis' rapids. 
 
 The following remarks relative to Dodge countv, 
 w-ere written by the intelligent editor of the Milwaukee 
 Democrat : 
 
 '• This county is situated in the interior, midway be- 
 tween Wisconsin river and Lakts JVlichigan and Win- 
 nebago, and at present contains more choice locations 
 for farms than can be found in any other countv in 
 Wisconsin, The Rock river runs through the eas- 
 tern part of Dodge, and expanded in the Winnebago 
 marsh, becomes navigable for any boats that ever 
 rnay be made to pass on this stream, to within about 
 fifteen miles of Lake Winnebago. l"he western por- 
 tion of the county is watered by the Crawfish and Bea- 
 ver dam creeks, on each of which extensive water 
 power rnay be created. Good wells have been obtain- 
 ed at the depth of twenty feet, in nearly every part of 
 the county, and springs, and spring brooks, are more 
 abundant than in any other portion of Wisconsin. The
 
 190 DODGE COUNTY. 
 
 larger streams arc skirted by groves of thick and heavy 
 timber, consisting of oak, sugar, linn, elm, ash, butter- 
 nut, hickory and walnut ; Avhile the smaller streams 
 run through the choicest tracts of burr oak openings 
 and prairies, interspersed with valuable thickets of pin 
 oaks, which will furnish farmers in their neighborhood 
 with an excellent and plentiful supply of rail timber. 
 Excepting the Winnebago marsh, there is scarcely 
 any land in the whole county, (thirty miles square,) 
 which cannot be cultivated. Several causes have hith-' 
 erto operated to prevent the settlement of this district. 
 Its inaccessibility from the lake shore, because of the 
 want of roads, may be stated as one cause, while an- 
 other is to be found in the fact that one-half of this 
 county is in the northern land district, and must be en- 
 tered at Green Bay, which is even more inaccessible 
 from that region than Milwaukee. Until the present 
 year, so far as public notoriety extended, Dodge county 
 has been left terra incognita. Three years since, 
 Mr. Hyland opened a waggon road from Watertown 
 to the centre of the county, and settled on a small prai- 
 rie which bears his name, whither he was followed by 
 a sufficient number of industrious farmers to occupy 
 not only the whole of the prairie, but every quarter 
 section adjoining the road opened by this hardy pioneer. 
 About the same time six families moved from Fox lake, 
 ten miles down the Beaver dam, and made a settlement, 
 to which they gave the name of that stream. This set- 
 tlemeht now contains twentv-five or thirty families. A 
 saw mill is in successful operation, and preparations 
 are making to build a flourins: mill on the same dam
 
 POST OFFICES'. 191 
 
 during the coming year. The stream, ^vhich will 
 yield an abundant supply of water, and which at this 
 point has between twenty, and thirty feet fall within 
 three-fourths of a mile, niay be successfully and easily 
 used to any extent in driving machinery. Between 
 Hy land's and Beaver dam, are Rising and Slawson's 
 prairies, on which are thriving settlements. The set- 
 tlement at Fox lake, which was commenced four or 
 five years since under the auspices of Mr. H. Stevens, 
 has languished frorn^ its more remote distance in the 
 northwest corner township, and from the injudicious 
 entries by non-residents, rather than from any want of 
 choice and superior farming locations. There are^ 
 however, several substantial farmers in the Fox lake 
 and lake Emily region, and the prospect now is, that 
 this inviting part of Dodge county will receive a new 
 impetus to its settlement. All these settlements are 
 made by immigrants from the eastern states : and not to 
 exceed thirty sections of land in the county are in the 
 hands of non-residents." 
 
 There are two post offices in Dodge county : one at 
 Waushara, on Fox lake, and one at Limestone, on the 
 road between the Menomonee Falls and Fond du Lac, 
 not far from the Ossin river. 
 
 So far as the rocks have been exposed to view, lime- 
 stone is found to prevail, and usually of an excellent 
 quality for building purposes.
 
 ROCK RIVER, 
 
 Rises a few miles \Yest of Fond du Lac. and run- 
 ning in a south and southeasterly direction, enters the 
 Mississippi in the State of Illinois, one hundred and 
 sixty-five miles below the south line of Wisconsin. It 
 derives its name from some rocks near the mouth, seen 
 in passing- on the Mississippi, and not from its being 
 more rocky than any other of the western rivers. The 
 " Rock river country" is very favorably known for its 
 fertility of soil, heahhfulness, and for the beauty of its 
 natural scenery. The numerous remains of an ancient 
 people, and of their works found in its vicinity, indi- 
 cate that this celebrity is not of recent date. This 
 river may at very moderate expense, be rendered navi- 
 gable for small steamboats. The only obstructions 
 within this Territory are at four rapids, requiring 
 locks and dams, and about ten bars or shallow places, 
 of inconsiderable extent. The following table shows 
 the extent and fall on these rapids, the distances along 
 the river from place to place, and the total elevation of 
 each place above Lake Michigan, commencing at the 
 mouth of Doty's river, near the north line of Dodge 
 county, which is the head of natural naviiration. and
 
 IMPROVEMENTS. 193 
 
 only eighteen miles from the southern extremity of 
 Lake Winnebago : 
 
 PLACES. DISTANCE. DESCENT. ELEVATION. 
 
 Miles. Feet. Feet, 
 
 Mouth of Doty's river 316 
 
 Outlet of Winnebago marsh 12^ 6.000 310 
 
 Head of Hustis' rapids. _. i2-| 15.000 295 
 
 Foot of Hustis' rapids | 6.925 288 
 
 Opposite La BeJle lake. _. 27:^ 31.075 257 
 
 Head of Peck's rapids 9 9.000 248 
 
 Head of mill pond 9 23.659 224 
 
 Foot of Johnson's rapids. _ 2| 24.237 200 
 
 Jefferson 18 14.104 186 
 
 Foot of Lake Koshkonong 19^ 11.000 175* 
 
 Mouth of Crawfish 11^ 12.000 163 
 
 HeadofHohnes^ rapids... 12 12.000 131 
 
 Foot of Holmes' rapids... U 6.925 144 
 
 State line of Illinois 16 16.075 123 
 
 Junction with Mississippi-. 165 191.000 —63 
 
 Total 316 379.000 
 
 The whole estimated cost of improving the lower 
 division of this river, from the State line to the mouth, 
 is only one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The 
 principal obstructions are at what are called the Upper, 
 and the Lower rapids, the former having a descent of 
 eight feet, and the latter six. 
 
 It has been proposed to connect the head waters of 
 
 Rock river and Lake Winnebago, by means of a canal 
 
 — and Capt. Cram, an officer of the Topographical 
 
 Engineers, reports in relation to it, thai, '-judging from 
 
 13
 
 194 ROCK RIVER. 
 
 observations on the ground, unaided by the level, be- 
 tween the head waters of Hock river and those which 
 seek the southern extremity of Lake Winnebago, it is 
 inferred that a canal might be opened so as to draw 
 water from the lake as a reservoir into the river." 
 That this inference is very fl-ir from correct, is shown 
 by statements made in the reports of the same officer. 
 The level of Rock river is stated by him, at a point 
 some distance below Johnson's rapids, to be one hun- 
 dred and eighty feet above Lake Michigan. To this 
 should be added for those rapids and two others above, 
 and also for the descent of the river between the ra- 
 ^^ids, about one hundred and thirty-six feet, making 
 the elevation of the head of Rock river three hundred 
 and sixteen feet above Lake Michigan. But Lake 
 But Lake Winnebago is stated by Capt. Cram to be 
 only about one hundred and sixty feet above Lake 
 Michigan, so that in order to make its waters run 
 down Rock river, a " deep cut" must be excavated one 
 hundred and sixty-six feet deep, and extend from the 
 lake nearly to the Illinois State line ! That a canal 
 may be made here, is perhaps true ; but that some 
 source for the supply of water, other than Lake Win- 
 nebago must be found, is also true. 
 
 The branches of Rock river in Wisconsin are, Do- 
 ty's river, in Fond du Lac county ; Ossin, and Rubi- 
 con, in Dodge county ; Oconomewoc, Crawfish, Bark 
 river, Johnson's creek and Koshkonong creek, in Jef- 
 ferson county ; and the Catfish and Turtle creek, in 
 Rock county. The Pekatonica is a considerable 
 branch, that enters five and a half miles below the 
 State line.
 
 STEAMBOATS. 195 
 
 Stoamboats have ascended this river as far as Beloit : 
 and in 1841, a small steamboat was built at Aztalan. 
 and sent down the river. But until improved, its value 
 for navigation will be principally confined to floating 
 lumber, &c., down the stream.
 
 FOND DU LAC COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Winnebago and Calumet 
 counties; on the east by Sheboygan : on the south by 
 Washington and Dodge ; and on the west by Mar- 
 quette county: or to trace the boundaries, wc may 
 begin at the the northwest corner of township seven- 
 teen, in range fourteen, and running thence east, to 
 Lake Winnebago ; thence across that lake in a north- 
 easterly direction, to the south boundary of the Indian 
 reservation; thence east to the east line of range nine- 
 teen ; thence south twenty-seven miles, to the south 
 line of township thirteen : thence west twelve miles ; 
 and thence north eighteen miles, to the place of begin- 
 ning. It is thirty-six miles long, from east to west, 
 and twenty-seven miles wide, in the widest place. The 
 superficial extent of the county is seven hundred and 
 fifty-four square miles, of which thiriy-six are covered 
 by the waters of Lake Winnebago. 
 
 This county Vv^as set off from Brown, in 1836, and 
 organised as a separate county in 1839. For judicial 
 purposes it is to be organised during the present year, 
 (1844.) Its population in 1840, was one hundred and 
 thirty-nine : in 1842, it was two hundred and ninety--
 
 STATISTICS. 197 
 
 three, and there has been a very considerable increase 
 since that time. 
 
 There were in Fond du Lac county in 1840, agree- 
 ably to the census, 21 horses, 355 neat cattle, 208 
 swine, and one saw mill. The products of 1839 were 
 320 bushels of wheat, 1.315 of oats, 73 of buckwheat, 
 1,918 of Indian corn, 3,961 of potatoes, 353 pounds of 
 wax, 625 tons of hay, and 3,220 pounds of maple su- 
 gar. 
 
 A high and steep ledge of limestone rock extends 
 through the county from northeast to southwest, run- 
 ning along the west side of Lake Winnebago, which 
 appears to be the dividing line between the heavily 
 timbered land on the east, and the prairie and open 
 land forming the v^'est part of the county. The " Mil- 
 itary road" from Green Bay to the Mississippi, runs 
 around the south end of the lake, and recently a road 
 has been opened from this point to Milwaukee, thus 
 affording the citizens of Fond du Lac a choice of lake 
 ports at which to transact their commercial business. 
 
 The town system of government has been adopted. 
 The counties of Calumet and Marquette have been at- 
 tached to Fond du Lac, constituting towns in that 
 county ; but they are now organised as separate coun- 
 ties. The towns at present organised are three — Ca- 
 lumet, Fond du Lac and Waupun. 
 
 Calumet, lies at the northeast part of the county, 
 on the east side of Lake Winnebago, adjoining the 
 county of the same name, and extending to the south 
 line of township sixteen. A number of German emi- 
 grants have recently settled in this town, and a village
 
 [\)b FOND DU LAC COUNTY. 
 
 is laid out on Lake Winnebago, called " Calumet Vil- 
 lage." 
 
 Fond du Lac. — This town embraces two-thirds of 
 the county, or all east of the west line of range sixteen, 
 except what is included in the town of Calumet. The 
 villages of Fond du Lac and Taycheeda arc in this 
 town, near the southern extremity of Lake Winneba- 
 ^^'■o. The former was laid out as early as 1835, by the 
 '• Fond du Lac Company," on the Soocheerah or Fond 
 du Lac river, at the site of an old village of the Win- 
 nebago Indians. Its situation is beautiful, on land 
 gradually rising from the lake, with scattered groves 
 and clumps of trees. It is sixty-four miles from Mil- 
 waukee, and sixty from Green Bay. The Soocherah 
 is navigable nearly two miles from its mouth, at which 
 point it receives the Seven Mile creek from the west ; 
 above it runs with a rapid current, between high banks. 
 The proposed connection (by means of a canal) with 
 Rock river, will be along the valley of this stream. 
 
 The village of Taycheeda, situated near the south- 
 cast angle of Lake Winnebago, has sprung up within 
 a few years, and now bids fair to outstrip all the other 
 places in the county. An extensive mercantile estab- 
 lishment, tavern, and numerous handsome dwellings, 
 with several mechanic's shops, constitute the embryo 
 town. 
 
 Waupun, embraces townships fourteen, fifteen and 
 sixteen, in ranges fourteen and fifteen, being eighteen 
 miles long, and twelve wide. The centre of this town 
 appears to be a summit from which streams of water 
 descend in all directions. The land is of good qua lity
 
 POST OFFICES. 199 
 
 and well supplied with timbered and prairie land. At 
 ihe place usually known as Waupun, on the United 
 States road, eighteen miles from Fond du Lac, and 
 eighteen miles southeast from Green lake, there is a 
 saw mill, on Doty's river, and some twelve or fifteen 
 fiimilies. This stream rises a few miles north of Fox 
 lake, and running almost due east, enters Rock river 
 one mile below Waupun. Rock river takes its origin 
 in this town, on section twenty-five, township fifteen, 
 range fourteen, from whence it runs east six miles, and 
 then south, receiving Doty's river just before it leaves 
 the county of Fond du Lac. The junction of these 
 streams is considered the head of natural navigation of 
 Rock river. 
 
 There are two post offices in Fond du Lac county ; 
 at Tacheeda and Waupuu. 
 
 In the eastern range of townships there are nine 
 small lakes, only two of which are named on the maps, 
 — Crooked lake, on section fifteen, township thirteen, 
 range nineteen ; and Long lake, in township fourteen, 
 which is two and a fourth miles long, and only half a 
 mile wide.
 
 CALUMET COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Brown, east by Manito- 
 woc, south by Sheboygan and Fond du Lac, and on? 
 the west by Winnebago counties ; or on the north by 
 the line between townships twenty and twenty-one : on 
 the east by the line between ranges twenty and twenty- 
 one ; on the south by the line between townships six- 
 teen and seventeen (in range twenty-one) and the south 
 line of the Indian reservation, produced into Lake Win- 
 nebago ; and on the west by the line between ranges 
 seventeen and eighteen. It is twenty-four miles long 
 from north to south, and eighteen miles wide. The 
 area is three hundred and ninety-six square miles, in- 
 eluding about eighty-one miles of the water of Lake 
 Winnebago. 
 
 Calumet county was set off from Brown, in 1836, 
 and organised as a separate county in 1842: but in 
 1843, it was reduced to the grade of a town, and made 
 part of Fond du Lac county, under the name of Man- 
 chester. It is now restored to its former dignity. The 
 population, in 1840, was two hundred and seventy- 
 five : in 184'2. it was four hundred and seven.
 
 STATISTICS. 201 
 
 This county embraces the Stockbridge and Brother- 
 town Indian reservation, whose forms, with their neat 
 iiouscs, substantial fences and well cultivated fields, 
 will compare favorably with those belonging to other 
 farmers of this country. They constitute a majority of 
 the inhabitants of the county. 
 
 A high rocky ridge runs through the county, nearly 
 parallel with the lake shore, from the east side of which 
 the Sheboygan and Manitowoc rivers take their rise : 
 and through one or other of these valleys, a very di- 
 rect communication with Lake Michigan, may, at no 
 distant day be opened, by the construction of a rail road 
 or canal. The soil in this county is rich, and well 
 covered with timber, of which basswood constitutes an 
 unusually large proportion. The rocks found in this 
 place are limestone, and occasionally sandstone ; and 
 there are said to be some indications of coal. The 
 scenery, especially about the lake is described as very 
 beauliful'and picturesque. 
 
 According to the census of 1840, there were then in 
 Calumet county, 16 horses, 255 neat cattle, and 438 
 swine; and the products of 1839, are stated at 1,192 
 bushels of wheat, 194 of barley, 432 of oats, 2.619 of 
 Indian corn, 3,803 of potatoes ; and 231 tons of hay. 
 
 There are two very small lakes in this county. 
 
 The post offices established are four: at Calumet- 
 ville, Manchester, Pequot and Stockbridge. 
 
 The only streams of any considerable size are the 
 north and south branches of the Manitowoc, which run 
 in nearly opposite directions and unite near the east 
 line of this county.
 
 WINNEBAGO COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Brown, or north line of 
 township twenty; on the east by Calumet, or east line 
 of range seventeen ; on the south by Fond du Lac, or 
 south line of township seventeen ; and on the west by 
 Marquette and Brown counties, or by the west line of 
 range fourteen. It is a regular square of twenty-four 
 miles each way, and containing, therefore, five hundred 
 and sixty square miles, from which, however, we may 
 deduct, as covered with water, as follows: 
 
 By Lake Winnebago 90 miles. 
 
 Pewaugan Lake 21 " 
 
 Great Butte des Morts 7 " 
 
 Little Butte des Mortes 4 " 
 
 Rush Lake__- 5 " 
 
 Total 127 " 
 
 Winnebago county was separated from Brown and 
 Fond du Lac counties, in 1840, and organised for 
 county purposes in 1842. In 1840, its population was 
 one hundred and thirty-five ; and in 1842 it had only 
 increased to one hundred and forty-three. It is under- 
 stood however, that within the past two years this
 
 STATISTICS. 203 
 
 county has received considerable addition to its popu- 
 lation. 
 
 The situation of this county, on the Neenah river, 
 at the junction of Wolf river, a large stream, which 
 must at some future day bring down a large surplus of 
 agricultural products, and being bounded on Lake Win- 
 nebago, one of he most beautiful and interesting, as 
 well as the largest of the interior lakes in the Terri- 
 tory, must render it as important as many other coun- 
 ties. The character of the soil, timber, prairies, wa- 
 ter, and other things usually considered in making a 
 selection of a new home in the west, will compare fa- 
 vorably with any other county in the Territory. The 
 underlaying rock is limestone. 
 
 The ancient struggle between the French and the 
 Sauk and Fox Indians, by which the former sought to 
 secure a free passage across the country to the Missis- 
 sippi river, was terminated by a decisive action which 
 took place in this county, as described in this work, 
 page 19. 
 
 There are two post offices : at Oshkosh and Buttes 
 des Mortes. 
 
 In 1840, agreeably to the census, there were in Win- 
 nebago county, 39 horses, 184 neat cattle, 147 swine, 
 1 grist mill, and 1 saw mill. In 1839, the products 
 were 362 bushels of wheat, 445 of oats, 21 of buck- 
 wheat, 1,090 of Indian corn, 1,980 of potatoes; 209 
 tons of ha}'-, 4,400 pounds of maple sugar, 3 barrels of 
 fish: eight thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars 
 worth of skins and furs, and fifteen pounds of tobacco. 
 
 The county seat is at Oshkosh, at the entrance of 
 the Neenah into Lake Winnebaefo.
 
 204 WINNEUAGO COUNTY. 
 
 Lake Winnebago, iroiii which this county derives 
 its name, is twenty-eight miles long, and ten miles 
 wide, in its greatest dimensions, and covers an area of 
 about two hundred and twelve square miles. The 
 Neenah river enters it near the middle, and leaves it 
 at the northwest angle, by two channels, enclosing 
 Doty's island, by which it is connected with the Little 
 Butte des Morts lake. These channels are known as 
 the Winnebago rapids. " The water," says Capt. 
 Crara, " is hard, and when not violently agitated, is 
 quite pellucid, but becomes turbid during long and se- 
 vere blows ; and has a depth sufficient for the purposes 
 of navigation. On the northern extremity the shore 
 is low. having a narrow sandy beach, for an extent of 
 about eight miles. On the east side the shore presents 
 a remarkable feature for an extent of fifteen miles, in a 
 wall composed of rocks laid together, as if placed there 
 by the hand of art. A similar wall pertains to por- 
 tions of the western shore, but with less continuity than 
 is observed on the east shore. The wall generally 
 rises about five feet above, and extends into the lake 
 under the water, for some hundreds of feet. Above 
 the wall on the east side, there immediately succeeds a 
 table of excellent land, covered with a growth of 
 heavy timber ; and still further back, the ground rises 
 into a high ridge, in which limestone and sandstone arc 
 found in great abundance. On approaching the south- 
 ern extremity of the lake, however, the stone and tim- 
 ber disappear, and the land becomes a rich grassy prai- 
 rie, coming quite to the water's edge." The wall 
 above described, probably owes its origin to the ex-
 
 LAKES. 205 
 
 pansive force of the ice in winter^ by which the rocks 
 in the shallow water near shore are annually moved 
 towards the shore, until they are finally thrown up 
 into a ridge or wall, as is seen on the Pewaukee. and 
 other lakes in Milwaukee county. There is a small 
 island, (about a mile in length.) near the west shore, 
 called Garlic island. For the protection of navigation 
 on this lake, a pier has been commenced, under the au- 
 thority of Congress, at Clifton, near the noithern ex- 
 tremity of Lake Winnebago, for which an appropria- 
 tion of five hundred dollars was made. It is estimated 
 by Capt. Cram, that the surface o[ this lake is about 
 one hundred and sixty feet above the level of Lake 
 Michigan. 
 
 Pewaugan lake, is an expansion of Wolf river, 
 about ten miles in length, commencing a short distance 
 above its junction with the Neenah. 
 
 Great Butte des Morts Lake, is an expansion 
 of the Neenah river, four and a half miles above Lake 
 Winnebago: three and a half miles in length, and from 
 one to two miles in breadth. 
 
 Little Butte des Morts lake, is another ex- 
 pansion of the Neenah, immediately below the Win- 
 nebago rapids : about four and a half miles long, and 
 one mile wide. 
 
 These two last lakes. (Butte des Morts, or " Hills 
 of the Dead,") are named from hills or mounds said to 
 have been formed of the dead bodies of the Indians 
 slain in some battle, which were thrown into heaps 
 and covered with earth. They are now grown over 
 with grass, and present much the same appearance as
 
 :i06 WINNEBAGO COUNTY. 
 
 the ancient mounds so profusely scattered through the 
 west. Should this story prove true, it inay be impor- 
 tant, as showing the origin of the ancient mounds. 
 These mounds are near the mouth of Wolf river, or 
 about the head of the Great Butte des Morts lake. 
 
 Rush lake, is situated near the southwest corner of 
 the county, (in township seventeen, range fourteen,) 
 is five miles long, and about two wide. The southern 
 extremity of the lake crosses the county line of Fond 
 du Lac county. There are no lakes in this county be- 
 sides those above described.
 
 MARaUETTE COUNTY. 
 
 So named in honor of Father Joseph Marquette, 
 who first explored this part of the country, is bounded 
 on the north by the Neenah river ; on the east by Win- 
 nebago and Fond du Lac counties, or the east line of 
 range thirteen ; on the south by Dodge and Portage 
 counties, or the south line of township fourteen ; and 
 on the west by the Neenah river. Its length from east 
 to west, is twenty-nine and a half miles, and its aver- 
 age breadth is thirteen and one-sixth miles, showing 
 an area or superficial extent of three hundred and 
 eighty-eight square miles or sections. This county 
 was set off from Brown, in 183G, and is to be organi- 
 sed as a separate county in 1844. The population in 
 1840, was eighteen, and in 1842 was only fifty-nine ; 
 but such has since been the increase, that the legisla- 
 ture has authorised a separate organization for county 
 purposes. 
 
 In 1840, there was in Marquette county 5 horses, 
 45 neat cattle, and 20 swine; 100 bushels of oats, 100 
 of buckwheat, 320 of potatoes, and 20 tons of hay, were 
 the products of the preceding year. 
 
 There is no post office in this county.
 
 208 MARQTETTE COUNTY. 
 
 There are three lakes of considerable size in this 
 county, and six of less importance. The principal arc 
 
 Buffalo lake, an expansion of the Neenah river, 
 at the northwest angle of the county, commencing 
 nineteen miles below the portage, and extending eleven 
 and one-fourth miles. It is narrow, and the water is 
 shallow, being mostly filled with wild rice. 
 
 PucKAWA LAKE, is another expansion of the Nee- 
 nah river, about seven miles long and two broad, and 
 about forty miles, by the course of the river, below the 
 portage. The village of Marquette is laid out on the 
 south side of this lake ; and a Company has been in- 
 corporated to construct a canal from this place to De- 
 korra, on the Wisconsin river, thus avoiding the por- 
 tage and much circuitous navigation along the Neenah 
 river. 
 
 Green lake, lies immediately east of Puckawa ; 
 eight miles long, by two broad ; its waters deep, and 
 very clear. The bottom is covered with white pebbles 
 and wild rice, or other vegetation, does not grow upon 
 it, as upon most of the lakes about this portion of Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Little Green lake, lies four miles south of 
 Green lake, one and a half miles long by a mile wide, 
 with a circumference of about seven miles. The water 
 is said to be very deep. " In the middle," says a cor- 
 respondent of the Green Bay Republican, " it has been 
 sounded to a depth of more than forty feet, and no bot- 
 tom found : in many places, at a distance of twenty 
 yards from the shore, the water is from eight to twelve 
 feet in depth, and remarkably pure. There is no visi-
 
 RIVERS. 209 
 
 b]e inlet, and but one outlet, which is so inconsidera- 
 ble, that it is in fact only a mere drain. The scenery 
 around is picturesque and beautiful beyond description. 
 On the north side, for more than a mile in extent, the 
 shore is composed of a beautiful white sandstone, rising 
 in some instances perpendicularly to the height of 
 probably seventy-five or eighty feet. This stone pos- 
 sesses all the properties of the best grindstones brought 
 into this Territory ; and although some of it can be very 
 readily broken with the hand, yet I struck some parts 
 of the ledge as I passed under it with a heavy spear, 
 and I am of the opinion that it is firm enough for the 
 best of either grind or scythe stones." 
 
 This county is bounded on the west and north by 
 the Neenah, and the only stream besides this, of any 
 importance, is one whose Indian name is 
 
 Keeshaynic river. — It rises in the west part of 
 Fond du Lac county, and running west through the 
 middle of Marquette county, enters the Neenah about 
 a mile above Lake Puckawa. It is about thirty miles 
 in length, and a short distance above the mouth ex- 
 pands into a long narrow lake. 
 
 14
 
 RICHLAND COUNTY, 
 
 Was established in 1842, on the north side of the 
 Wisconsin river, to embrace two ranges on each side 
 of the fourth principal meridian, and extending to the 
 north line of township twelve. It lies between the coun- 
 ties of Sauk on the east, and Crawford on the west; is 
 twenty-four miles wide, from east to west, and twenty- 
 four and one-fourth miles average length ; containing 
 therefore, five hundred and eighty-two square miles. 
 This county is not yet organised, but is attached to 
 Iowa. 
 
 The topography of this county is quite similar to 
 that of the counties south of the Wisconsin ; the sur- 
 face consisting of a series of dividing ridges running 
 between the principal streams, which send out lateral 
 branch ridges, that form bluff banks along the rivers. 
 They are composed chiefly of sandstone. 
 
 Pine river, is the principal stream in the county, 
 and runs from north to south, near its centre. This 
 stream is navigable for canoes, and is about thirty 
 yards wide at its junction with the Wisconsin. Six 
 miles above the mouth, it receives a considerable tribu- 
 tary from the east. There is a cascade about twenty 
 miles above the Wisconsin, where the rocks are said 
 to be united over the water, forming a natural bridge.
 
 RIVERS. '211 
 
 The Wisconsin river, is one of the most impor- 
 tant in the Territory, especially the lower portion, be- 
 tween the portage and the Mississippi, a distance ot 
 one hundred and twelve miles, by the course of the 
 river. At the portage, it is four hundred yards wide, 
 and it gradually increases in width to the mouth, where 
 it is six hundred yards wide. In Richland county, it 
 has a width of about four hundred and fifty yards. 
 This portion of the river is bordered by high sandstone 
 blufts, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet 
 in height — constituting a scenery of great beauty and 
 even grandeur. The water is shallow, and there are 
 numerous islands and shifting sand bars. The cur- 
 rent is usually quite rapid. Hence the navigation of 
 the Wisconsin is rather difficult and uncertain ; but 
 steamboats, such as usually run on the Upper IVljssis- 
 sippi, have ascended to the portage. When the chan- 
 nel is better known to the pilots, it may, however, be 
 navigated in ordinary stages of the water, without mucli 
 difficulty. 
 
 The distances along this river, from the portage, art 
 
 as follows : 
 
 Miles. Total m. 
 
 From Portage to Dekorra — _- 6 
 
 Thence to Prairie du Sac 20 26 
 
 '• Arena 12 3S 
 
 •• Helena : 10 48 
 
 Mineral creek 7 53 
 
 '• Pine river 9 62 
 
 '• Blue river 15 71 
 
 " Kickapoo river 19 90 
 
 " Ferry (U. S. road) 11 107 
 
 " the Mississippi 5 ll'i 
 
 The Indian name of this river is Neekoospara.
 
 SAUK COUNTY. 
 
 Lies oil the north side of the Wisconsin, between 
 Richland and Portage counties, being bounded as fol- 
 lows: beginning on the Wisconsin, on the west line of 
 range three east, and running thence north to the north 
 line of township twelve ; thence west six miles ; thence 
 north six miles; thence east to the middle of the Wis- 
 consin river ; thence down the middle of said river, 
 until it intersects the range line between ranges seven 
 and eight ; thence south to the middle of the Wiscon- 
 sin ; thence down that stream to the beginning. It is 
 thirty miles long from east to west, with an average 
 breadth of about twenty-eight miles, and an area of 
 about eight hundred and seventy-six square miles. 
 Sauk county was set off from Crawford, in 1839, and 
 is to be organised as a separate county in 1844. Its 
 population, in 1840, was one hundred and two ; in 
 1842 it was three hundred and three, and at this rate 
 of increase, the population may now be estimated at 
 seven or eight hundred. 
 
 The principal settlement in this county, is on the 
 river, at a place called " Prairie du Sac," twenty-five
 
 STATISTICS. 213 
 
 miles northwest from Madison. The prairie is about 
 eight miles wide, and extends eighteen miles along the 
 Wisconsin. Its name is given in allusion to its form, 
 being that of a " sack," or bag, and not from Sauk, the 
 tribe of Indians. The Naumatonan, or Honey creek', 
 enters the Wisconsin a short distance below, upon 
 which mills have been erected. On the Baraboo river, 
 a branch of the Wisconsin, that enters a short distance 
 above the portage, a settlement has been commen- 
 ced. The remainder of the county is usually represen- 
 ted as very rough and broken, and, to some extent, 
 unfit for cultivation and improvement. 
 
 In 1840, one year after the first settlement of this 
 county, it contained 30 horses, 148 neat cattle, and 82 
 swine: and the produce of 1839, was 464 bushels of 
 wheat, 1,795 of oats, 1,235 of potatoes, and 264 tons of 
 hay. There was one store.
 
 PORTAGE COUNTY, 
 
 As at present extended, is one of the largest in the 
 Territory. Its boundaries may be traced as follows : 
 begin at the southeast corner of township ten. in range 
 twelve, and run west along the township line, to the 
 middle of the Wisconsin river ; thence up the river, to 
 the west line of range eight : thence north, until that 
 line again crosses the middle of the Wisconsin ; thenco 
 lip the river to the north line of township thirteen ; 
 thence west, to the west line of range two east : thence 
 north, to the Territorial line ; thence eastwardly along 
 that line, to the east line of range nine , thenc^e south, 
 to the Neenah river ; thence up that river to the north 
 line of township thirteen : thence east, to the east lino 
 of range twelve ; and thence south twenty-four miles, 
 to the place of beginning. 
 
 That part of the county lying east of the Neenah and 
 Wisconsin rivers, is twenty-four miles wide, from north 
 to south, and averages twenty-five and three-fourths 
 miles long, with an area of six hundred and eighteen 
 miles. The remainder of the county is forty-eight 
 miles wide, and probably a hundred and fifty miles
 
 STATISTICS. 215 
 
 long. The whole area of the county is, therefore, 
 about eight thousand square miles. 
 
 This county derives its name from the Wisconsin 
 and Neenah portage, a point often mentioned by all 
 who speak or write about Wisconsin, At times of 
 flood, the waters of the Wisconsin occasionally cover 
 the marshy ground at this place, to the depth of three 
 feet; and being at such times the highest, the water 
 passes into the Neenah, thus sending portions of its 
 water to the ocean by two very different routes. The 
 *• Portage Canal Company" have dug a ditch across 
 the portage, about two feet wide and two feet deep. 
 Capt. Cram reports, that the length of canal necessary 
 to cross this portage, is seven thousand seven hundred 
 and thirty-nine feet; and that the fall, from the Wis- 
 consin to the Neenah, in October, 1839, was one fool 
 and fifty-five hundredths. This difference constantly 
 varies, according to the stage of the ^Yater in the two 
 streams, but it is believed that it seldom exceeds three 
 feet. The portage is one hundred and twelve miles, 
 by the Wisconsin, from the iVlississippi ; one hundred 
 and fifty-eight, by the course of the Neenah, from 
 Green Bay, and forty miles from Madison. 
 
 Portage county was set off from Brown, in 183G, 
 and is to be organised for county purposes, in 1844. 
 Its population, in 1840, was one thousand si.x hundred 
 and twenty-three; and in 1842. (excluding officers and 
 soldiers at Fort Winnebago) it was six hundred and 
 forty-six. In 1840, it numbered 201 horses, 37'2 neat 
 cattle, 127 hogs, 9 stores, and 14 saw mills; and the 
 products of 1839, were 1,815 bushels of wheat, 1.018
 
 ilO PORTAGE COUNTY. 
 
 of oats, 21 of buckwheat. 293 of Indian corn, 5j539 of 
 potatoes; 899 tons of hay, and seven thousand one hun- 
 dred and fifty dolhirs worth of skins and furs. 
 
 Post olficcs arc established at Fort Winncbagc/. 
 Grand Rapids and Plover Portage. 
 
 The Upper Wisconsin, lies principally in ibis 
 county, with its numerous rapids and portages, afford, 
 ing water power of great extent, which is used at many 
 places to manufacture pine lumber. Large quantities 
 of lumber are annually sent down this river, and the 
 Mississippi, as far as St. Louis. The '"'pineries" com- 
 mence about eighty miles above Fort Winnebago ; and 
 here a rail road has been constructed (the first in Wis- 
 consin) of tvv'o miles in length, to convey logs from the 
 forests to the mills. At the " Dells," the river runs 
 for three miles, between perpendicular cliffs of rock 
 about three hundred feet high, and only forty across. 
 It is said that the gorge is so narrow at the top, in some 
 places, that a person may easily jump across it. Near 
 the Dells is the place Avhere Black Hawk and the 
 Prophet were taken (after their defeat at the battle of 
 the Bad Axe,) by Dekorra and Chaetar, two Winne- 
 bago Indians, who had been employed for that purpose 
 by the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien. 
 
 Duck creek, and Doty's creek, are two small 
 tributaries of the Wisconsin, near Dekorra. 
 There are five small lakes in Portage county. 
 Swan lake, an expansion of the Neenah, above 
 the portage, is three and a half miles long, and half a 
 mile wide. The water is pure, of great depth, and 
 abounds in fish.
 
 VILLAGES. '217 
 
 iMuD LAKE, is also an expansion of the same river, 
 live miles below the portage, about one mile in length. 
 
 Lake Sarah, forms the source of the Neenah, 
 about eight miles west of Fox lake. 
 
 Dekorra, is a village laid out in 1836, by some 
 gentlemen from Kentucky, and called " Kentucky 
 city," on the Wisconsin river, at the first convenient 
 place below the portage. There is a store, a flouring 
 mill, and several houses here ; and the principal busi- 
 ness done is the lumber trade, this being the point at 
 which lumber from the Upper Wisconsin is landed to 
 supply the surrounding country for many miles in ex- 
 tent. The position of the town is high, commanding, 
 and healthy. The rock about here is sandstone, which 
 has imparted a sandy quality to the soil. The timber 
 is scattered, and consists chiefly of small oaks. A 
 road has been opened from Dekorra direct to Lake 
 Michigan, at Sauk Harbor, in Washington county, at 
 an expense to the general government of five thousand 
 dollars. Two other towns have been laid out by dif- 
 ferent persons in this county, which have not yet risen 
 to much importance. They are Pauquette, twelve 
 miles south of Fort Winnebago ; and Ida, or Wiscon- 
 sinopolis, on the north side of Swan lake. Near this 
 place is " Stone Q,uarry Hill," from which an excel- 
 lent building material is obtained, and aflbrding a com- 
 manding view of the surrounding country.
 
 DANE COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Sauk and Portage coun- 
 ties ; on the cast by Dodge and Jefferson : on the south 
 by Rock and Green ; and on the west by Iowa : or on 
 the north by the n(!Trth line of township nine; east by 
 the east line of range twelve ; south by the south line 
 of township five ; and west by the west line of range 
 six. It is forty-two miles long, from east to west, and 
 thirty miles wide from north to south, with an area of 
 twelve hundred and thirty-five square miles, or sec- 
 tions, thirty-five of which are covered by the water of 
 the lakes. This county was set set off from the west 
 part of Milwaukee, and east part of Iowa counties, in 
 1836, but was not organised as a separate county until 
 1839. Its population, in 1838, was one hundred and 
 seventy two; in 1840, it was three hundred and four- 
 teen ; and at the last enumeration, in 1842, its popula- 
 tion was seven hundred and seventy-six. It may now 
 be estimated at about one thousand. The county seat 
 is at Madison, the capital of the Territory. 
 
 The face of the country in this large and important 
 central county, is much diversified by hills and val- 
 leys : the hills, however, are always of moderate ele-
 
 MADISON. 210 
 
 ration; and have gentle slopes to their summits. The 
 valley occupied by the Four Lakes, and their outlet, is 
 the principal one, and occupies the central portions of 
 the count V. There are no considerable portions that 
 can be called timbered land, it being almost entirely 
 oak openings or prairie. Some of the eastern portions 
 of the county are occupied by dry ridges, separated by 
 ■wet meadows, and afford but little inducement for prc- 
 scfit settlement. The west line of the county passes 
 between the two Blue Mounds, the largest, or princi- 
 pal one, falling within the county of Dane. About 
 three townships, occupying the southwest corner of the 
 county, are within the country known as the " Mine- 
 ral region." and lead mines have long been worked at 
 the Blue Mounds. It touches upon Lake Koshkonong, 
 an expansion of Rock river on the southeast, and upon 
 the Wisconsin river at the northwest, embracing the 
 ground upon which the "battle of the Wisconsin" was 
 fought, between the volunteers under General Henr}' 
 Dodge, and the Indians under Black Hawk, July 21, 
 1832. There are two newspapers published in this 
 county, at Madison : and four post offices have been 
 established — at Madison, Moundville, Cottage Grove 
 and Fitchburg. 
 
 Madison is beautifully situated, between the Third 
 and Fourth of the Four Lakes, near the centre of a 
 broad valley, surrounded by high lands from which 
 the village may be seen at a great distance, presentino- 
 one of the most picturesque views in this part of Wis- 
 consin. It was laid out in 1836, and in December of
 
 ;i20 DANE COUNTY. 
 
 the same year, it was by law made the permanent scat 
 of Government for the Territory, when the whole 
 town consisted of but one " log cabin." As soon as it 
 was known that the capital of the Territory was es- 
 tablished on the point or neck of land between the 
 Third and Fourth Lake, a rush was made to the Land 
 OfRce at Milwaukee, and all the lands subject to entry 
 in the vicinity, and for many miles around these lakes, 
 were immediately entered, mostly by those who do not 
 intend to occupy them for actual settlement and im- 
 provement. Hence the improvement of this county 
 has not been as rapid as some others, w^here the '• spec- 
 ulators" had no opportunity or inducement to monopo- 
 lize all the most valuable lands. The advantages of 
 having the seat of government, however, has in some 
 degree, made up for this misfortune, and it is probable 
 that Dane county will keep pace with her sister coun- 
 ties, especially as it is probable that the principal pub- 
 lic improvements, by canals, rail roads, &c., will, as is 
 usual, be made to centre, or pass through the capital 
 of the Territory. Public buildings have been erected 
 at Madison, for w-hich an appropriation of forty thou- 
 sand dollars was made by Congress. 
 
 In 1840, agreeably to the census of the United 
 States, there were in Dane countj^, 101 horses, 510 
 neat cattle, 5 sheep, 628 swine, 3 stores and groceries, 
 1 saw mill, 2 cabinet makers, and two lead smelting 
 furnaces. The products of 1839, was 290 bushels of 
 wheat, 10,250 bushels of oats, 12 bushels of buckwheat, 
 3,080 bushels of Indian corn, 8,480 bushels of potatoes, 
 10 pounds of wool, 468 tons of hay, 200,000 pounds of 
 lead, and twenty thousand dollars worth of lumber.
 
 FOUR LAKES. 221 
 
 The region of the Four Lakes, is very favorably 
 known as a beautiful country, with a rich limestone 
 soil, and well adapted for agricultural purposes. These 
 lakes lie in a row. from northwest to southeast, the 
 Lirgest being the upper, or most northwesterly, called 
 the Fourth Lake. The other three are of nearly equal 
 size, and about equal distances apart. Their outlet, 
 called the Catfish creek, is a valuable stream, afford- 
 ing several fine sites for water power, and might easily 
 be made navigable for small boats. From the report 
 of Capt. Cram, many interesting facts relative to the 
 Catfish and the Four Lakes, are here given : 
 
 " The First lake, has a circumference of nine and 
 a half miles, and contains five square miles of surface : 
 its longest diameter points due east and west, and is 
 three and one-eighth miles in extent ; and the north 
 and south diameter is two miles long. The water is 
 pellucid and has a depth along the boat channel, va- 
 rying from seven to ten feet, excepting near the outlet, 
 where, as is usual with these lakes, there is a bar, 
 over which the water is but two feet deep. The 
 shores, with but few exceptions, are good ; in some 
 places they are rolling and uneven, being broken by 
 bluffs, and interspersed occasionally with small marshes. 
 The timber is scanty, and of inferior quality." 
 
 The Second lake, is next above the First. Its 
 length is three and a half miles, and its width nearly 
 two miles. The water is pure, and along the boat 
 track has a depth of nine feet. On the north and east 
 the shore is marshy, with a low, gravelly bank inter- 
 vening between the marsh and the water's edge ; on the
 
 ■222 DANE COUNTY. 
 
 southern and western shores, the land is elcvatedj un- 
 dulathig, presenting high knobs and bluffs. 
 
 The Third lake, is intermediate in size, as well 
 as position, between the Second and Fourth lakes, be- 
 ing three and a half miles long, and occupying an area 
 of about six square miles. Its waters arc very clear, 
 and about ten feet deep ; the banks are high and undu- 
 lating, bearing a scattered growth of burr oak and 
 white oak trees. Madison is on the north shore of this 
 lake, occupying the narrow strip of land between it 
 and the next. 
 
 Fourth lake, is the uppermost and largest of the 
 Four lakes. It has a periphery of nineteen and one- 
 fourth miles, and covers an area of fifteen and sixty-five 
 hundredths square miles. Its longest diameter bears 
 due east and west, and is six miles in length ; and the 
 transverse diameter is four miles long. • The water is 
 cold and pure, and of a depth suflScient for all the pur- 
 poses of navigation by small steamboats — supposed to 
 be from fifty to seventy feet at some places. •• The 
 land bordering upon it is hilly, undulating, and in 
 many places broken. On the north side it is well 
 timbered, chiefly with hard wood, and lime, and sili- 
 cious stone are found in abundance ; the quality thereof, 
 however, has not been sufficiently tested to enable one 
 to form a just estimate of its value for building purpo- 
 ses." This is a beautiful lake, with clean, white, grav- 
 elly shores, and is mostly supplied from springs, hav- 
 ing only one small tributary. It is fifteen miles from 
 the Wisconsin river, at the nearest point ; and it is sup- 
 posed that a canal misfht be constructed uniting these
 
 RIVERS. 223 
 
 waters at Arena, by the valley of the Black Earth 
 creek. The country around the lake rises gradually 
 to a considerable elevation; it is underlaid by limestone. 
 Chalcedony, agates, and carnelians, have been found 
 among the pebbles on the shore of this lake. The 
 surface of the Fourth lake is estimated to be two hun- 
 dred and ten feet above Lake Michigan, or seven hun- 
 dred and eighty-eight feet above the level of the ocean : 
 and it is estimated by Capt. Cram, to be twenty-two 
 inches higher than Third lake. 
 
 There are eight other small lakes in Dane county, 
 (twelve in all.) The largest, called Wingra, lies 
 west of Third lake, and is one and three-fourths miles 
 in length, and three-fourths of a mile wide, The oth- 
 ers have not yet been named, and several arc quite 
 small. 
 
 The Catfish river, or outlet of the Four lakes, 
 between the Fourth and Third lakes, one mile, has a 
 width of from sixty to one hundred feet, and a depth of 
 three feet, except near the Fourth lake, where the 
 width is only thirty-five feet, and the depth two. The 
 descent is estimated at a little less than two feet. Be- 
 tween the Third and Second lakes the descent is but 
 very little ; the average width is about three hundred 
 and fifty feet ; and the depth varies from one to nine 
 feet; distance, seven-eighths of a mile. Between the 
 Second and First lakes, three and a half miles, there 
 are three slight rapids, having a total descent of about 
 two feet; and the depth of water varies from one to 
 three or four feet. From the First lake to Dunkirk 
 Falls, nine miles, there is but little fall in the river, the
 
 '224 DANE COUNTY. 
 
 water being usually deep, and about one liundred and 
 thirty feet average width. The best niethod of impro- 
 ving the navigation of this stream would probably be, 
 to build a dam at this point, about six feet high, which 
 would increase sufFiciently the depth of the channel, 
 and bring all the lakes to the level of the Fourth lake, 
 thus makinof a connected navigation for small steam- 
 boats through the whole distance, without further ex- 
 pense. 
 
 At the Dunkirk Falls there is a rapid, in which the 
 descent is six feet, in a distance of one and one-fourth 
 miles, there being no perpendicular fall. The banks 
 are from fifty to sixty feet high, and the valley is much 
 contracted. From this point to Rock river, twelve 
 .miles, there is a constant succession of rapids — one 
 having seven feet and four inches descent in a distance 
 of about one mile. The whole descent on these rapids, 
 {twenty five in all) was ascertained by Capt. Cram, to 
 be thirty-four and sixty-eight hundredths feet. The 
 Catfish enters Rock river eleven and a half miles be- 
 low the foot of Lake Koshkonong. The whole length 
 of the stream, from the head of the Fourth lake, is 
 forty miles, twenty-eight of which could be made nav- 
 igable by the erection of one dam at Dunkirk, not ex- 
 ceeding six feet in height. 
 
 Koshkonong creek, lies chiefly in Dane county, 
 having its source about eight miles northeast from 
 Madison, and running nearly parallel with the Catfish, 
 along the east line of the county, enters Lake Koshko- 
 nong (hence its name) in Jefferson county. It receives 
 the waters of two or three small lakes; and its length- 
 is about thirty-five miles.
 
 BLUE MOUNDS. 2,io 
 
 is^bout thirty-five miles. Sugar river takes its rise 
 in tl)e western part of this county, its head branches 
 approaching near those of the Black Earth creek, 
 which runs in an opposite direction, from the great di- 
 viding ridge, and enters the Wisconsin at Arena, in 
 Iowa county. 
 
 Madison is the only village of any size or impor- 
 tance in this county, though a great many others have 
 been laid out, and some of them may hereafter be built 
 up. 
 
 The Blue Mounds, are two large conical hills, or 
 mounds, one in Iowa, and one, the largest, in Dane 
 county, twenty-five miles west from Madison, and twelve 
 miles south from the Wisconsin river. Their eleva- 
 tion is such that they can be seen at a distance of fif- 
 teen or twenty miles or more ; and in the first explora- 
 tions of the country, they were very important land- 
 marks to guide the traveller in his course through the 
 boundless prairits. The Indian name is Mu-cha-wa- 
 ku-nin, or Smoky Mountains, applied to them, it is said, 
 on account of their summits being usually enveloped 
 in a cloud, or fog. From the summit of these mounds, 
 which are covered with vegetation all the way up, 
 there is a very grand view of the surrounding country, 
 extending far beyond the Wisconsin on the north, and 
 embracing a wide circle on ail sides. The Platte 
 Mounds, u-hich are similar in many respects to the 
 Blue Mounds, and may be considered as rivals, are 
 seen at the southwest. Near the Mounds are the re- 
 mains of a Fort, built during the Black Hawk war, 
 in which several families were protected from the sav- 
 15
 
 'i-26 DANE COUNTY. 
 
 age ibes. The stranger is here shown the grave of 
 Lieutenant Force, who was killed by an Indian bid i» 
 the tall grass, in a small ravine, near the place where 
 the grave is now seen. This Indian was afterwards 
 killed, near the Four lakes, in a skirmish with Gene- 
 ral Dodge's volunteers, and a gold watch belonging to 
 Lieutenant Force, was taken from the pouch of the In- 
 dian, and restored to his family. 
 
 The following is a geological section, extending 
 from the summit of the eastern mound to the Wiscon- 
 sin river, at Helena : 
 
 Feet. 
 
 1. Cornitiferous rock, or beds of chirt, forming 
 
 the peak of the Mound __. 410 
 
 2. Geodiferous lime rock, or lead bearing rock. 169 
 
 3. Blue limestone (of Dr. Locke) very thin, or 
 
 wanting 00 
 
 4. Saccharoid sandstone 40 
 
 5. Alternations of sandstone and limestone 188 
 
 6. Sandstone 3 
 
 7. Lower limestone 190 
 
 Total lOOO 
 
 Lead mines have been opened on the southern slope 
 of the principal mound, v/hich afford, in addition to the 
 usual kind of ore, another called "white mineral" by 
 the miners — probably the carbonate of lead. Its ex- 
 ternal characters are so much unlike the common ore, 
 that its real nature would not be suspected until a more 
 careful examination was made. It is not very abun- 
 dant, and is seldom worked as an ore, on this account. 
 The smelters give only half as much for this as for 
 the common ore,
 
 GREEN COUNTY, 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Dane, and on the east 
 by Rock counties ; on the south by the State of Illi- 
 nois ; and on the west by Iowa county — embracing 
 townships one, two, three and four, in ranges six, seven, 
 eight and nine, east. It is about twenty-four and a half 
 miles long, from north to south, and twenty-four miles 
 wide, with an area of five hundred and eighty-eight 
 square miles. Green county was established from the 
 east part of Iowa, in 1836, and organised as a separate 
 county in 1838. The population was then four hun- 
 dred and ninety-four ; in 1840 it was nine hundred and 
 thirty-three; and in 1842 it had increased to one thou- 
 sand five hundred and ninety-four. 
 
 The surface of the country is much broken by hills 
 of moderate elevation, and gentle slopes, susceptible of 
 cultivation to their summits. The timber usually con- 
 sists of scattered trees, and the southern portion is 
 mostly prairie. 
 
 The " mineral country" extends nearly to the eas- 
 tern part of this county, where the lead bearing rock 
 crops out, and is succeeded, as we pass eastward, by 
 the underlaying sandstone, similar to that found along
 
 22B GREEN COUNTY. 
 
 the Wisconsin. There are already several very valu- 
 able "discoveries" of lead in this county, and many 
 flattering "prospects" of more. These mines are nearer 
 Lake Michigan than any other in the mining country, 
 and when the lead trade is diverted in that direction, 
 as much of it must be at some future time, these mines 
 will have the advantage of being nearest to market ; 
 and as most of the soil is well adapted for agricultural 
 purposes, this county may be regarded as destined to 
 become one of the most important of the interior coun- 
 ties. 
 
 In 1840, there were in Green county 274 horses 
 i,459 neat cattle, 608 sheep, 3,605 swine, 2 stores, 1 
 grist mill and 3 saw mills ; and the produce of the pre- 
 ceding year was 11,953 bushels of wheat, 85 of barley, 
 20,245 of oats, 788 of buckwheat, 25,610 of Indian 
 corn, and 15,603 of potatoes, and 1,045 pounds of wool 
 
 Post oflices have been established at Exeter and, 
 Monroe. 
 
 The county seat is at Monroe, formerly called New 
 Mexico, near the southeast corner of township two, in 
 range seven. It is represented as a very prettily situ- 
 ated and thriving village, and surrounded with a good 
 farming country. Exeter is the name of the place usu- 
 ally known as the '' Sugar River Diggings," (township 
 four, in range eight.) A considerable quantity of lead 
 is smelted at this place. Centreville, Lexington and 
 Livingston, are towns only in name. 
 
 Sugar river, is the principal stream in this county, 
 rising in Dane, and running through the eastern part 
 of Green, it crosses a corner of Rock county, and pas-
 
 RIVERS. ^29 
 
 •ics into Illinois, where it unites with the Pekatonica. 
 It has several branches, of which the one called the 
 Little Sugar river, entering from the west, in township 
 three, is the most considerable. No lead mines have 
 been found east of Sugar river. The Pekatonica cros- 
 ses the southwest corner township of Green county, 
 and there receives a small tributary, called Skinner's 
 creek. 
 
 There are no Jakes in Green county.
 
 IOWA COUNTY, 
 
 One of the largest and most important of the counties 
 in the mineral district, is bounded on the north by the 
 Wisconsin river, which separates it from Richland and 
 Sauk ; on the east by Dane and Green counties ; on 
 the south by Illinois ; and on the west by Grant county. 
 It may be described as embracing- all of ranges one. 
 two. three, four and five east of the fourth principal 
 meridian, lying between the State of Illinois and the 
 Wisconsin river. Iowa county was established by the 
 legislature of Michigan, to include all that part of 
 Crawford county lying south of the Wisconsin river, 
 and was reduced to its present dimensions in 1836. It 
 is thirty miles wide from east to west, and has an ave- 
 rage length of forty-six and a half miles, and an area of 
 thirteen hundred and ninety-five square miles. 
 
 In 1830, Iowa county had a population*" of one thou- 
 sand five hundred and eighty-nine; and in 1836, of 
 five thousand four hundred and thirty-four. In 1838, 
 excluding Grant county, &c., the population was three 
 thousand two hundred and eighteen; in 1840, it had 
 increased to three thousand nine hundred and sevent}'- 
 oight ; and in 1842, to five thousand and twenty-nine,
 
 STATISTICS. 231 
 
 The general surface is much broken by valleys, 
 whh intermediate ridges, the whole having a slight 
 inclination in a north and south direction from the 
 great ridge, running east and west a few miles south 
 of the Wisconsin. This broken character is owing to 
 the loose, soft, easily decomposed limestone, which is 
 readily carried away by the disintegrating agents. 
 North of the main ridge the limestone is succeeded b}' 
 the underlaying sandstone, forming cliffs of a wild 
 and picturesque appearance. This dividing ridge is a 
 very prominent and important feature in the topogra- 
 phy of the western counties. Unlike most of the divi- 
 ding ridges, it is very high, commanding a fine view 
 of the valleys descending from it. The main road 
 passes along the summit of the ridge, and it is suppo- 
 sed that, should a rail road ever be constructed to unite 
 this country with Lake Michigan, it will be along this 
 ridge. 
 
 In 1840. the United States census shows that there 
 were in this county 30 smelting furnaces, producing 
 eight millions nine hundred and nine thousand pounds 
 of lead within the preceding year^ giving employment 
 to one hundred and twenty-eight men, and requiring an 
 invested capital of one hundred and six thousand five 
 hundred dollars. There were then in Iowa county 
 1,132 horses and mules, 4.567 neat cattle, 583 sheep. 
 7,618 swine, 21 stores and groceries, 1 distillery. 2 
 breweries, 1 printing office, 4 grist mills and 7 saw 
 mills. The products of 1839 were as follows : 12.945 
 bushels of wheat, 2.424 of barley, 147,782 of oats, 145 
 of buckwheat. 76,885 of Indian corn, and 49.383 oi
 
 '>32 IOWA COUNTV. 
 
 j)Otalocs, 4,152 tons of hay, 398 pounds of wool, and 3,5 
 of wax. These statistics show the truth of the remark 
 made on a preceding page, that the mining country is 
 also a good farming country : for it will be seen that 
 while Iowa county produces the greatest amount of 
 lead and copper, she at the same time produces the 
 greatest quantity of oats ; and the other agricultural 
 products do not indicate a barren and unproductive 
 ioil. But the disposition of those who reside here to 
 dig for wealth under the soil, rather than on its sur-- 
 face, is so strong, that the capabilities of the soil are 
 probably not yet fairly tested. 
 
 There are eleven post offices established in this 
 county, viz; at Belmont, Diamond Grove, Dodgevillc, 
 Elk Grove, Gratiot's Grove, Helena, Mineral Pointy 
 Porter's Grove, (or Ridgway.) White Oak Springs^ 
 Willow Springs, and Wiota. This list will show alsa 
 the principal villages and settlements in the county. 
 
 Belmont is situated between the two Platte Mounds 
 near the north line of township three, in range one 
 east, and is noted as being the place selected, in 1835, 
 by Governor Dodge, for holding the first session of 
 the Legislative Assembly. It has not improved very 
 rapidly since that period. The Platte Mounds are two 
 conical elevations, about two hundred feet high, twelve 
 miles southwest from Mineral Point. They are three 
 miles apart, and there is a smalt mound lying between 
 them. They are composed of silicious limestone, like 
 the other mounds in this region, and are visible, when 
 the air is clear, about thirty miles. The Indian name 
 is Eu-nc-she-te-no — the " two mountains."'
 
 PLATTE MOUNDS. 233 
 
 The view from the top of these mounds is very in- 
 teresting, and is graphically described by "Gen. Wm. 
 R. Smith, as follows: "An ocean of prairie surrounds 
 the gazer, whose vision is not limited to less than thirty 
 or fort}' rnilos. This great sea of verdure is interspers- 
 ed with delightfully varying undulations, like the vast 
 waves of the ocean, and every here and there sinking 
 into the hollows, or cresting the swells, appear spots 
 of wood, large groves, extensive ranges of timber, small 
 groups of trees, as if planted by the hand of art, for or- 
 namenting this naturally splendid scene. Over this 
 extended view, in all directions, are scattered the inci- 
 pient farms of the settlers, with their luxuriant crops of 
 wheat and oats, whose yellow sheaves, already cut, 
 form a beautiful contrast with the waving green of the 
 Indian corn, and the smooth, dark lines of the potatoe 
 crop. Throughout the prairie the most gorgeous va- 
 riety of flowers are seen rising above the thickly set 
 grass, which in large and small patches has here and 
 there been mowed for hay, all presenting a curious 
 chequered appearance of the table beneath us. The 
 mineral flower, the tall, bright purple and red feather, 
 the sun-flower, the yellow bloom, the golden rod, the 
 several small and beautiful flowers, interspersed with 
 the grass, render the scene indescribably beautiful. To 
 the north, the Wisconsin hills are seen bounding the 
 view; to the east, prairie and wood are only limited 
 by the horizon, and the Blue Mounds, on the northeast, 
 form a back ground and a land mark : to the south, 
 the view over the rolling country, extends into the 
 State of Illinois: in the southwest, is seen the Sinsin-
 
 234 IOWA COUNTY. 
 
 iwa Mound; tho view to the west is only bounded by 
 the Table Mound, and the hills west of the Mississippi, 
 and distant about thirty miles ; while to the northwest 
 the high hills through which the Father of Waters 
 breaks his sweeping way, close the view. Below us, 
 on the plain, is the little village of Belmont, with its 
 bright, painted dwellings ; the brown lines in tho broad 
 green carpet, indicate the roads and tracks over the 
 prairie ; the grazing cattle are scattered over the wide 
 surface, looking like dogs, or sheep, in size ; while in 
 the distance are seen waggons of emigrants, and ox 
 teams hauling lead, merchandize and lumber ; the 
 horseman, and foot traveller, are passing and re-pas- 
 sing ; pleasure and travelling carriages are whirling 
 rapidly over the sward, as if the country had been im- 
 proved for a century past, instead of having been only 
 five years reclaimed from the savages. This picture 
 is not exaggerated — it fails of the original beauty, in 
 the attempt to describe that scene which is worth a 
 journey of a thousand m.iles to contemplate in tho 
 calm sunset of a summer day, as I have viewed it, from 
 the top of the Platte Mounds." 
 
 Besides the Platte Mounds, the Western Blue Mound 
 falls within this county. , . 
 
 Helena, is situated on the Wisconsin river, near 
 the mouth of Pipe creek, seven miles below Arena, 
 fifteen miles from Dodgeviile, and about the same from 
 the Blue Mounds. The most important business done 
 at this place, is the manufacture of shot, by the '• Wis- 
 consin Shot Company" — the only place in Wisconsin 
 where shot is manufactured.
 
 VILLAGES. 235 
 
 The view of the valley of the Wisconsin from the 
 top of the shot tower at this place, is described as very 
 fine, extending a great distance. The river is seen 
 winding through the rich, flat valley, which is bor- 
 dered on both sides by high hills, with here and there 
 rocky clifl^s, separated by well wooded coves or vales. 
 Besides the operations at the shot tower, there is much 
 other business done at Helena, in the shipment of pig 
 lead, and the receipt of lumber from the Upper Wis- 
 consin, to supply the surrounding country. 
 
 A few miles below Helena, on the Wisconsin, is a 
 place called the Fallen Rocks, where the river has 
 undermined the strata, and a mass of sandstone about 
 thirty feet high, and two hundred feet long, has fallen 
 off from the body of the cliflf. 
 
 Arena, is situated on the Wisconsin river, the 
 northeast angle of the county, at the mouth of the 
 Black Earth creek. 
 
 DoDGEviLLE, is a thriving little village, six miles 
 north of Mineral Point, named in honor of General 
 Dodge, first Governor of Wisconsin. Several lead 
 mines have been opened, and furnaces are in operation 
 in the village ; and the mineral diggings in the neigh- 
 b^^iood are numerous and valuable, and are among 
 the first that were discovered and worked in the coun- 
 try. A company was incorporated in 183G, to con- 
 struct a rail road from the Mississippi to Belmont, with 
 the privilege of extending it to Dodgeviile; but nothing 
 has boen done towards constructing the road. 
 
 Mineral Point, so named because it is situated on 
 a point of land between two small branches of the Pe-
 
 23G IOWA COUNTY. 
 
 katonicn, containing mineral, or lead ore. Besides 
 lead — copper, zinc and iron arc found here in great 
 quantities. It is the seat of government for Iowa 
 county, contains a population of about one thousand, 
 and is rapidly improving in population and wealth, as 
 is evinced by the number of new and permanent dwel- 
 lings erected recently. The quantity of lead and cop- 
 per sent from here is very considerable ; most of it 
 finds its way to Galena, in Illinois, whence it is ship- 
 ped down the Mississippi, and by way of the ocean to 
 New- York. Within the last few years however, 
 much of it is sent by waggons to Lake Michigan, 
 mostly at Milwaukee, and thence sent direct by way 
 of the lakes to New-York. The experiment has been 
 tried of boating lead down the Pekatonica,and up Rock 
 river to Beloit, whence it was sent to Southport ; and 
 a company has been incorporated to improve the navi- 
 gation of the Pekatonica, with a view of securing this 
 trade on that route ; but nothing has yet been done to- 
 wards accomplishing this object. A company has 
 also been incorporated to construct a rail road from 
 Mineral Point to the Mississippi. 
 
 Several other towns have at different times been laid 
 out in Iowa county. Among them are Albion, N^' 
 Baltimore, Buchanan, Oiterborne, Muskado, Savannah 
 and Shutsburgh — which have not grown to be towns 
 of much size and importance. 
 
 There are no lakes or marshes in Iowa count}-. 
 
 The Pekatonica, is the principal stream, rising a 
 few miles west of Mineral Point, and running in a 
 southeasterly direction through the southeast corner
 
 STREAMS. 237 
 
 of Green county, passes into Illinois, wiiere it makes a 
 lonr; bend to the south, and enters Rock river five and 
 a half miles below the State line. It is a sluggish 
 stream, remarkable for the great number of short 
 bends or crooks, running through a beautiful and ro- 
 mantic valley, bordered by high blufls. The water is 
 usually turbid, hence'its name, which signifies "the 
 muddy stream." It is navigable for small boats from 
 its mouth to the '• Forks," at the village of Wiota. 
 The principal branch, or tributary of the Pekatonica, 
 is called the East Branch, and rises along the ridge 
 between Dodgeville and the Blue Mounds. It runs 
 south, through the eastern part of the county. The 
 other tributaries are Spafford's creek, Wolf creek, Big 
 and Little Otter creeks, and Bonner's creek. It was 
 on the Pekatonica that one of the first battles was 
 fought with the Indians during the Black Hawk war, 
 June 17, 1832. 
 
 Fever river, rises near Belmont, in this county, 
 and running south enters the Mississippi seven miles 
 below Galena, the great depot of the lead trade of this 
 region The river was named after a Frenchman, 
 (La Fever) and not on account of the prevalence of 
 fdvers in its vicinity. The Indian name, Mecobea 
 (Small Pox river) is equally unfortunate for the repu- 
 tation of this stream for healthfulness. 
 
 Mineral creek, and Pipe creek, are two small tribu- 
 taries of the Wisconsin, in this county. They have an 
 unusual number of small branches.
 
 GRANT COUNTY, 
 
 Occupies the southwest corner of Wisconsin, being 
 bounded on the north by the Wisconsin river (or Craw- 
 ford and Richland counties) ; on the east by Iowa 
 county : on the south by the State of Illinois ; and on 
 the west by the Mississippi, which separates it from 
 the Territory of Iowa. Its extreme length, from north 
 to south, is forty-eight miles, and from east to west, 
 thirty-seven miles : its mean breadth, however, is only 
 twenty-four miles, showing an area of eleven hundred 
 and fifty-two square miles. It has a river coast along 
 the Wisconsin and Mississippi of nearly one hundred 
 miles. 
 
 Grant county was set off from Iowa, and organised 
 as a separate county in 1836. In 1838, it had a po^. 
 ulation of two thousand seven hundred and sixty-three: 
 in 1840, of three thousand nine hundred and twenty- 
 six ; and in 1842, of five thousand nine hundred and 
 thirty-seveli. The county seat is at Lancaster. 
 
 The topography of this county is quite simple ; it 
 may be described as a series of ridges, with interven- 
 ing valleys. The main ridge runs east and west, com-
 
 MINERAL DIGGINGS. 2o»9 
 
 mencing at the mouth of the Wisconsin, and running- 
 east along the south part of township six, quite through 
 the county ; from this main ridge lateral branches ex- 
 tend south between the valleys of the streams, and 
 these again have smaller spurs extending east and west. 
 North of the main ridge, the system is not so uniform, 
 and sandstone bluffs occur. The ridges are composed 
 of limestone rock, full of fissures, usually running 
 north and south, or east and west ; and these fissures 
 are abundantly supplied with ores of lead and zinc, 
 and occasionally copper. From the mines large for- 
 tunes have been realized by miners, smelters, merchants 
 and speculators — and large fortunes have also been 
 sunk in thes^limestone fissures. 
 
 These mines are usually known as '-the diggings,'" 
 and are distinguished by some trivial name. Thus we 
 hear of the 
 
 Section. Township. Range. 
 
 Beetown Diggings 17 4 4 west 
 
 Blue River Diggings 24 6 1" 
 
 Fair Play Diggings 25 11'' 
 
 Grant Diggings 15 4 4" 
 
 New Grant Diggings 8, 17& 18 4 4 '• 
 
 Hardscrabble Diggings 13, 24 & 25 1 1 " 
 
 and 18, 19 & 30 I least. 
 
 Kilbourn Diggings 12 1 Uvest. 
 
 Menomonee Diggings 1,6, 31 & 86 1&2 1&2 '• 
 
 Nip and Tuck Diggings 30 4 4'* 
 
 Patch Diggings 10 2 1 *'• 
 
 Rattlesnake Diggings 31 «S6 36 4 4 & 5 '^
 
 '.i\(j GRANT COUNTY. 
 
 Tills list embraces but a small proportion of tha 
 whole number of " Digg^ings"' in the county; indeed, 
 the soutliern portion of this county may bo considered 
 as one great lead mine, and th*? number of openings, or 
 " sucker holes," is so gnat that it is dangerous to tra- 
 vel through the country unless \Yilh extreme caution, 
 for fear of falling into them. 
 
 Grant county is represented as being better supplied 
 with timber than other portions of ths mineral country, 
 and it has many fine prairies, abounding in springs of 
 pure water. There is neither swamp, lake or stagnant 
 pool of water of any kind in the county. The soil in 
 both timber and prairie land is very rich and fertile, 
 yielding all the usual crops (as will be seen by the 
 following statistics.) and with comparatively little labor 
 to the farmer. Among the timber are found oak, wal- 
 nut, hickory, lynn or basswood, sugar maple, cherry, 
 ash, iron-wood, quaken-aspen ; and grapes, wild plums, 
 and crab apples, grow in some parts of the county, in 
 abundance. On the river bottoms there are also found 
 the soft maple, elm and birch : on the blufTs, the cedar 
 and white pine. The woods abound in game, and the 
 streams in fish. 
 
 The census of 1840, shows that there were then 17 
 furnaces in this county, producing annually six millions 
 twenty thousand three hundred and fifty pounds of 
 lead, and giving employment to eighty-six men. There 
 were 5,735 horses and mules, 4.197 neat cattle, 463 
 sheep, 8,645 swine, 32 stores and groceries, 2 lumber 
 yards, 1 brewery, 2 flouring mills, 3 grist mills and 1 1 
 saw mills. The products were 10.796 bushels of
 
 VILLAGES. 241 
 
 wheat, 3,246 of barley, 65,400 of oats, 13 of rye, 1,059 
 of buckwheat, 100,055 of Indian corn, and 74,629 of 
 potatoes; 3,912 tons of hay, 100 pounds of tobacco, 
 1,355 pounds of maple sugar, 63,657 pounds of soap, 
 and 9.742 pounds of tallow candles. 
 
 Post offices have been established at Cassvillc, En- 
 glish Prairie, Fair Play, Hazel Green (Hardscrabble 
 Diggings,) Hurricane, Jamestown (Menomonec Dig- 
 gings,) Lancaster, Paris, Patch Grove, Platteville, 
 Potosi, Sinsinawa and Wingville. 
 
 Cassville, is situated on the Mississippi river, in 
 section twenty-six, in township three north, and range 
 five west. It was commenced as early as 1835, but 
 very little permanent improvement was made untii 
 within the past one or two years. The scenery about 
 here is represented as very beautiful. 
 
 PoTosi, is considered by many as the most impor- 
 tant place on the Mississippi in the mineral country, 
 and destined, ere long, to be the shipping point for 
 much of the lead trade that finds its way down that 
 river. It consists of the towns of La Fayette, Van 
 Buren and Dublin, united, and is situated at the mouth 
 of Grant river, in a romantic and picturesque valley, 
 with a stream of pure water running through it. This 
 valley, sometimes called Snake Flollow, is three miles 
 long, and varies from one hundred to three hundred 
 3'ards iii width. Improvements were commenced here 
 in 1836 ; and this is the point usually considered as 
 the most proper for the termination of a rail road from 
 Lake Michigan. 
 
 SiNiPEE. on section six, township one, range two 
 16
 
 •212 GRANT COUNTY, 
 
 west, is also spoken of as destined to become an im- 
 portant point for the shipment of lead. The town 
 stands on the edge of the water, which is deep near 
 shore, affording a convenient landing for the largest 
 steamboats. 
 
 Platteville, is the largest of the interior towns, 
 situated on section fifteen, in township thrrje, range one 
 west, in the immediate vicinity of some extensive min- 
 eral diggings. It is five miles west from Belmont, on 
 a small branch of the Little Platte river. The village 
 was incorporated in 1841. It has an academy, which 
 was incorporated in 1839. 
 
 Lancaster, the seat of justice, is also a flourishing 
 town, situated on section three, in township four north, 
 and range three west, being near the centre of the 
 county. It has a court house, of brick, and there is 
 here a newspaper, published weekly. 
 
 WiNGViLLE, is situated on the main ridge road, near 
 the line between the counties of Grant and low-a, forty 
 miles from Prairie du Chien. The Blue River Dig- 
 gings are at this point. Limestone is found, and also 
 a stone suitable for building, and easily dressed. 
 
 Some other towns in this county are perhaps deserv- 
 ing of notice, and some are mere " paper towns," as 
 Brooklyn, New Cincinnati, CTibraltar, Grant, Hudson, 
 Osceola, Sutherland and Van Buren, (or Blue river.) 
 
 The large prairie lying in range five w^est, is usu- 
 ally called Blake's Prairie; and the long narrow 
 one, extending from Lancaster nearly to Potosi, is cal- 
 led Bois Prairie. English Praume, lies at the 
 northeast corner of the county, extending into Iowa.
 
 STREAMS. 243 
 
 Platte river, (Moschoca, "always full" of tiie 
 Indians,) is the largest stream within the county, run- 
 ning principally in range two west, and entering the 
 Mississippi two miles above Sinipee. It is said to be 
 navigable for steamboats for six miles. Its tributa- 
 ries are Little Platte, French creek, Huglan's creek, 
 and Block House creek. 
 
 Grant river, is said to be navigable twelve miles 
 above its mouth, at Potosi. It has numerous small 
 branches, among which are Bois creek, Pigeon creek, 
 and Rattlesnake creek. 
 
 Blue river, is a stream about twenty miles in 
 kngth, in the northeast part of the county, tributai}^ 
 to the Wisconsin. Near its sources are some valuable 
 mines of lead and copper, known as the '-Blue River 
 Diggings." 
 
 SiNSiNiwA CREEK ruHs south, througli townshiji 
 one, range one west, and is a tributary of Fever river, 
 in Illinois, The Sinsiniwa Mound, from which this 
 creek derives its name, is one of those isolated, coqical 
 elevations so remarkable in this country, situated near 
 the State line, five miles from the Mississippi. The 
 Menomonee creek, runs between this mound and the 
 river.
 
 CRAWFORD COUNTY, 
 
 One of the oldest in the Territory, is now reduced 
 to within the following boundaries: begin at the mouth 
 of Porcupine river, on Lake Pepin, thence up that 
 stream to the first forks ; thence by a direct line to th-e 
 mouth of the Meadow Fork of Red Cedar river; thence 
 up that river to Long Lake; thence along the canoe 
 route to Lac Courtorielle ; thence to the nearest point of 
 the West Fork of the Montreal river ; thence down 
 that stream, to the boundary of the Territory ; thence 
 eastward along said boundary, to the line between ran- 
 ges one and two east; thence south to Richland county ; 
 thence west and south by the boundaries of that county, 
 to the Wisconsin river ; thence down the Wisconsin 
 and up the Mississippi, to the place of beginning. But 
 a very small portion of this county has been surveyed, 
 and consequently but little can be known of the exact 
 course of the streams, or position and extent of the 
 lakes. 
 
 Crawford county was first established by the legis- 
 lature of Michigan, October 16, 1818, and then inclu- 
 ded all the country west of a line drawn north and 
 south through the middle of the Wisconsin portage.
 
 STATISTICS, '245 
 
 The population in 1830, was six hundred and ninely- 
 two : in 1836, it was eight hundred and fifty-four ; in 
 1838, it was one thousand two hundred and twenty ; 
 in 1840, it \Yas one thousand five hundred and two ; 
 and in 1842 (omitting officers and soldiers at Fort 
 Orawford) it was one thousand four hundred and forty- 
 nine. 
 
 Ill 1840, there were 366 horses, 808 neat cattle, 666 
 s^ine, 2 lumber yards, 1 grist mill and 5 saw mills. 
 The crops raised were 2,092 bushels of wheat, 32 of 
 barley, 9,299 of oats, 497 of rye, 104 of buckwheat, 
 5,257 of Indian corn, 7,522 of potatoes, 553 tons of 
 hay, and tw^enty-seven thousand eight hundred dollar? 
 worth of skins and furs. 
 
 The south part of Crawford county consists of a 
 ridge running north and south, on which the waters of 
 the Mississippi and Upper Wisconsin take their rise. 
 For a distance of eighty or a hundred miles, this ridge 
 is not broken by any valley. The bluffs along the 
 Mississippi appear to be the termini of lateral spurs of 
 this ridge, extending down between the smaller streams. 
 Near the falls of Black river, are the Iron Mountains, 
 (see page 72 of this work) and other high points. " The 
 scenery from these high ridges," says JVIr. Bronson. 
 '• is the most picturesque imaginable : natural columns, 
 pillars, towers, mounds, &c , are frequently seen, vary- 
 ing in height from twenty to one hundred feet ; their 
 summits oval, spiral, or inclined, and with more or 
 less perpendicular sides. They show the lime, sand, 
 and quartz formations with which the whole country 
 abounds." Excellent materials for mill stones ore
 
 216 CRAWFORD COUNTY. 
 
 ibund here. On the Kickapoo river, these naked 
 knobs often assume shapes resembling, rudely, the 
 iigure of some animal, or ghost, and are lield in great 
 veneration by the Indians. 
 
 The northern portion of the county is more level, 
 abounding in lakes and streams, more or less filled 
 with wild rice. 
 
 Prairie du Chien, the seat of justice of the county, 
 and the only village of much size and importance in 
 it, is situated on the Mississippi, about four or five miles 
 above the mouth of the Wisconsin, on a level plain or 
 prairie, about six miles long and two miles wide. This 
 prairie is bordered on one side by the Mississippi, and 
 on the other by high rocky bluffs, with scattered trees. 
 The name was given from an Indian, who formerly 
 resided here, called '-the Dog." It is one of the old- 
 est of the French settlements, or trading posts ; but the 
 first permanent settlement was commenced in 1783. 
 Fort Crawford is located here, near the south part of 
 the '-new town" or St. Friole, as it is sometimes called, 
 to distinguish it from the more ancient or " old town," 
 which lies a mile and a half above, and is separated 
 from it by an arm of the Mississippi called the "Grand 
 Maris de St. Friole." Below the fort, the " City of 
 Prairie du Chien" has been laid out, but the citu is 
 much smaller than the town. Prairie du Chien is 
 about five hundred and forty miles above St. Louis. 
 
 The principal rivers in Crawford county, are 
 
 Bad Axe, which heads about forty miles from Prai- 
 rie du Chien, and runs into the Mississippi. This 
 stream is rendered memorable by the fact that the last.
 
 RIVERS. *^4i 
 
 ■a«d decisive battle with Black Hawk and his band, 
 took place at its nnouth, on the 2d day of August, 1832. 
 Ball river, is another tributary of the Mississippi, 
 a few miles beiow Black river^ at a beautiful prairie 
 called "Prairie du Crosse," which was once much 
 frequented by the Indians for the purpose of playing 
 at a favorite game with a ball — hence the name Bali 
 river. The Indian name is Wazioju. 
 
 Black river, (Sappah of the Indians,; is an impor- 
 tant tributary of the Mississippi, entering between Ball 
 and Chippewa rivers. It is about two hundred yards 
 wide at the mouth, and maintains this width for fifty 
 miles, to the *• falls."' At these falls, there k a descent 
 of twenty-two feet in a distance of about one hundred 
 yards, affording water power at which about three mil- 
 lions of feet of lumber are annually made; and being 
 at the head of navigation, is supposed to be an impor- 
 -lant place. 
 
 Chippewa river, {or Ojibwa, of the Indians) i?. 
 ^next to the Wisconsin, the largest and most important 
 tributary of the Mississippi, in the Terrrtor3^ Like 
 that stream, ii rises in Michigan, in the country north 
 of Lake Katakittekon (Vieux Desert) and running in 
 a southwest direction, enters the Mississippi at the foot 
 of Lake Pepin, where it is five hundred yards wide. 
 The " falk" are about seventy-five miles above the 
 mouth, above wiiieh there are five other rapids. It 
 receives the waters of several fine lakes. Among them 
 are Lac Che Tac, whi^h is about six niilcs in length, 
 ■contains several islands., and digcbarges its waters 
 iti] rough the L'eau CJare into the Chippewa, fifty miles
 
 248 
 
 CRAWFORD COUNTY. 
 
 above the mouth ; Lac Courtorielle, which has art 
 outlet of the same name ; Lac de Flambeau, which 
 is the largest in this region ; Tomahawk lake, through 
 which the Chippewa passes : and Trout lake, a 
 small lake near its source. The Red Cedar Fork, is 
 the main branch of this river, entering from the west 
 about thirty-six miles above its mouth. About sixty- 
 miles below Rice lake, on this river, according to 
 Schoolcraft, commences a scries of rapids over hori- 
 zontal layers of sandstone rocks, which extend with 
 short intervals, down the river twenty-four miles. The 
 remainder of ihe distance (about fifty miles) to the 
 junction, is characterised by deep water, with a strong 
 current ; and at the junction the ground is command- 
 ing and elevated, affording a fine view of a noble ex- 
 panse of waters The Eau Gallais, is another branch 
 of the Chippewa, entering from the west, eighteen 
 miles above the mouth, on which mills have been built. 
 
 Kickapoo river, is a branch of the Wisconsin, 
 
 which runs for some distance nearly parallel with the 
 
 Mississippi, and enters the Wisconsin in range four 
 
 west. About its sources forests of pine are found. 
 
 Porcupine river enters Lake Pepin near the middle. 
 
 Trempaleau river, a branch of the Miss!ssippiy 
 that enters near Mount Trempaleau, the the " Montagne 
 qui trempe dans I'eau," (or Soaking Mountain) of the' 
 French. This remarkable bluff is about five hundred 
 feet high, affording a beautiful and extensive view of 
 the Mississippi and the surrounding country. A very 
 fine engraving of this mountain and the surrounding- 
 scenery was made, a few years sincC; to accompany 
 the " New-York Mirror,'"
 
 SAINT CROIX COUNTY, 
 
 Though one of the most recent counties, having been 
 established in 1840, is the most extensive, occupying 
 nearly one-half of the surface of the whole Territory. 
 It embraces all the wild, broken, and unsettled, and 
 even, in some degree, unexplored region extending 
 from Crawford county to the sources of the Mississippi, 
 and around the head of Lake Superior to the northern 
 boundary of the United States, and along that boun- 
 dary as far as the Lake of the Woods. The popula- 
 tion of this region, in 1840, was eight hundred and 
 nine : and in 1842, it was estimated at twelve hundred 
 — the settlements being so remote and so little known 
 that it was found impracticable to make an exact enu- 
 meration. The principal settlements are at La Pointe. 
 on Lake Superior, and on the St. Croix river. 
 
 The census of 1840, shows that there were then 58 
 horses, 434 neat cattle, 6 sheep, 187 swine, 7 stores 
 and groceries, 3 saw mills, and 9 cabinet makers in 
 this county ; and the products of the preceding y^ar 
 were 74 bushels of wheat, 79 of barley, 258 of oats, 
 GOG of corn, 8.014 of potatoes, 447 tons of hay. 173997
 
 1250 SAINT CIIOIX COUNTY. 
 
 pounds of maple sugar, 4,282 barrels offish, 1,500 gal- 
 ions of fish oil, and four thousand three hundred dol- 
 lars worth of skins and furs. 
 
 Much of this county will remain as it is at present, 
 an uninviting region, but there are portions of it, espe- 
 pecially along the Mississippi, and its branches, that 
 may be cultivated to advantage: and its forests of pine, 
 and perhaps mines of copper, may in some degree 
 compensate for its deficiencies otherwise. 
 
 Many of the rivers, lakes, &c., in this portion of the 
 Territory, have received different names by the per- 
 sons who have visited, or described them, and hence 
 there is some confusion in relation to these names. 
 Those that appear to be pretty well established, are as 
 follows: 
 
 St. Croix river, an important tributary of the 
 Mississippi, a few railes above Lake Pepin, and fifty 
 miles below the Falls of St. Anthony. Its length is 
 about two hundred miles. It originates in Upper St. 
 Croix lake, a beautiful sheet of clear, deep water, 
 twelve miles long from north to south, and from one 
 to three miles broad, M'ilh a small island near the south 
 end. From this lake there is a portage of two miles, 
 over a dry pine ridge, to the head of the Bois Brule 
 river of Lake Superior. The branches of the St 
 Croix connect, by short portages, with the Chippewa, 
 the Ishkodewabo (or Rum.) and the Mauvaise rivers. 
 At the Falls of the St. Croix, greenstone rock is found. 
 Mills have been erected here, and some other improve- 
 ments commenced. The quantity of pine lumber 
 inanufactured on the St. Croix is estimated at five mil-
 
 RIVERS. 251 
 
 lions of feet annually. Above the Falls the river is 
 full of rapids and falls ; the whole descent of the river 
 being estimated at seven hundred feet. 
 
 The St. Croix is about one hundred yards wide, at 
 its mouth, which is opposite an island in the Missis- 
 sippi ; and on the right bank at the mouth, there is a 
 perpendicular ledge of sandstone about ten feet high. 
 A few hundred yards above the mouth commences the 
 Lower St, Clair lake, which extends thirty-six miles, 
 with a breadth of about three or four miles. 
 
 Rum river, (Ishkode-wabo, or Missisagaregon, of 
 the Indians,) is the most important tributary of the 
 Mississippi river in Wisconsin, above St. Croix, enter- 
 ing fourteen miles above the Falls of St. Anthony. It 
 is sixty yards wide at its mouth, and navigable for ca- 
 noes about one hundred and fifty miles. It rises near 
 the St. Louis river of Lake Superior, and passes through 
 Spirit lake, a sheet of water twelve miles long and four 
 wide, containing several islands. The water is trans- 
 parent, and like most of the lakes in Wisconsin, abounds 
 in fish. The Mille Lac, forms the source of a consid- 
 erable branch of Rum river, by which the navigation 
 is connected by a portage of one mile, with the Upper 
 Mississippi. 'J'his lake, or rather group of lakes, is 
 about twenty miles in diameter. 
 
 Saint Francis river, (Wicha-niva, of the In- 
 dians,) enters a short distance above Rum river. It 
 runs nearly parallel with the Mississippi, and hence it 
 has been called Parallel river ; and as it has one of its 
 sources in Leaf lake, it has also been called Leaf river. 
 It is navigable for canoes about one hundred miles. It 
 was named by Hennepin, who saw it in 1680,
 
 252 SAINT CROIX COUNTY. 
 
 The Saint Louis river, is the largest and most 
 important tributary of Lake Superior in this Territory. 
 It enters at the western extremity of the lake, or of 
 Fond du Lac bay; is a very crooked stream, full of ra- 
 pids and falls, but is much used by travellers in pas- 
 sing from Lake Superior to the Upper Mississippi. At 
 the mouth it is about one hundred and fifty yards wide, 
 and immediately above the mouth it expands into a 
 long narrow lake. 
 
 The Bois Brule (or Burnt Wood) river, enters 
 the lake twenty miles from Fond du Lac, about ninety- 
 four miles long, and navigable for canoes about eighty 
 miles. It has its source in a spring of very clear and 
 cold water; twenty yards across, and situated near the 
 upper St. Croix lake. 
 
 The Mauvaise (bad) river, of the French — the 
 Mushkee (swamp) river, of the Indians, is the next 
 considerable tributary of Lake Superior east of the 
 Bois Brule, entering about half way between La Pointe 
 and the mouth of the Montreal, at a place where the 
 shore of the lake is sandy for sevenl miles each way 
 — an unusual thing on the coast of this lake. 
 
 The MoNTEAL RIVER docs not appear, from the re- 
 cent surveys, to be so large and important a stream as 
 has been supposed. It heads some considerable dis- 
 tance west of the Lac Vieux Deseri (Lake Katakitte- 
 kon.) is full of rapids and falls, especially towards its 
 mouth, and is scarcely navigable for canoes. About 
 eighty yards from the mouth, or entrance into the 
 Montreal bay, there is a rapid with a descent of some 
 eighty or ninety feet.
 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Altitude of places -.51 
 Antiquiiies • • -14, 180 
 
 Apple river Ill 
 
 Arena 235 
 
 Ashwabena Ill 
 
 Astor 102 
 
 Aztalan ISO 
 
 Bad Axe river 246 
 
 Ball river 182 
 
 Baraboo river 213 
 
 Bark river 141 
 
 Bay settlement- • • 104 
 
 Belmont 232 
 
 Beloit 174, 176 
 
 Benton creek •• ••111 
 
 Black creek 125 
 
 Black river 247 
 
 Bloomfield ITO 
 
 Blue Mounds •• .-225 
 
 Blue river 243 
 
 Bois Brule river- -252 
 
 Botany 77 
 
 Boundaries 5 
 
 Bridgeport 110 
 
 Bristol. 154 
 
 Brookfield 131 
 
 Brown county • • - -97 
 
 Buffalo la<ce 20S 
 
 Burlington." 150, 154 
 Butte des Morts--20.' 
 
 PAGE.i 
 
 Caledonia. -154 
 
 Calumet county ••200 
 " town of- 197 
 
 Canal lands 37 
 
 Cass' expedition- ••21 
 
 Cassvillo. 241 
 
 Catfish river 2>3 
 
 iCentre. 176 
 
 Chambers' island -117 
 Chippewa river- - -247 
 
 Climate 84- 
 
 Clinton 176 
 
 Coal. 67 
 
 Como lake. 172 
 
 Copper 63, 73 
 
 Counties- • -^ 95 
 
 Courtorielle, Lac -248 
 
 Courts. .29,256 
 
 Cranberry lake- ••185 
 Cra vvfish river. • • • 1 39 
 Crawford county- 136 
 Crooked lake. •■ •• 143 
 
 Dane county 219 
 
 Darien. 1701 
 
 Death's door 117 
 
 Deer lake 1761 
 
 Dekorra 2171 
 
 iDelafield. 131 
 
 iDelavan 170! 
 
 iDells 216' 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Dcpere. 101 
 
 Des Plaines 156 
 
 Detroit island- • •• 117 
 
 Diggings. 239 
 
 Dodge county •• •• 187 
 
 DodgeviUe 235 
 
 Dotv's creek 216 
 
 Doty's river. -192, 199 
 Dutch creek- 111, 216 
 Dunkirk falls 222 
 
 Eagle- 131 
 
 East Troy. -170 
 
 Enu Gallais river -248 
 
 Elkhorn 170 
 
 Embarrass river. -Ill 
 
 Emily lake-' 188 
 
 Exeter. 223 
 
 Extent of Territory • 6 
 
 Fever river. 237 
 
 First lake 221 
 
 Flambeau, Lac de 243 
 Fond du Lac co- -196 
 
 " " town of- 193 
 Fort Howard •• ••184 
 
 Fourth lake 222 
 
 Fox lake 183 
 
 Foxrivcr(Xeenah)103 
 
 " (Pishtaka)l42,156 
 
 Franklin. 131 
 
 Fulton 17G
 
 254 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE.; PAGfi.; PAGi;. 
 
 Genesee 13liKewaunee 102|Mequanigo lake" 144 
 
 Geneva 170 Kewaunee river- • 111 Meleorologic'l table90 
 
 Geneva lake. 172 Keyesville 182 Michigan, lake-- -158 
 
 Geological survey -66 Kickapoo river- --248 Mille Lac 251 
 
 Geology 53 Konkapot creek-. 222 Milton 177 
 
 Gold lake 143 Koshkonong 183 Mihvaukee.- • 131, 136 
 
 Government 27 ' '" bay- • • ■ 141 
 
 Governor 27 La Belle lake. 143; " county-130 
 
 Grantcounty 233 Labraugh lake-- -144; " river-. --128 
 
 Grant river. 243 La Fayette. 170 Mineralogy 66 
 
 Granville 131 Lafontaine 100, Mineral district.- --58 
 
 Grass island 118 La Grange 170' " dicrgingS"239 
 
 Green Bay.23,102,117 Lake, town of- -.-131 1 " lands. 35 
 
 Green county 227 Lakes 11, 160 Mineral Point 235 
 
 Greenfield. 131 Lancaster. 242 Mississippi discov'd 17 
 
 Green lake. 203 Land offices. SljMonish lake. 144 
 
 Griffin, the. 17, Lands sold in Wis- {Monroe 228 
 
 Gypsum 69! consin 32; Montreal river.- ••252 
 
 Lands, how sur- iMount Pleasant-^ 154 
 
 Hamilton creek^^Ul!, ^eyec!.. 33 -Mouse lake. 144 
 
 Health. 9Ji^^ Salle s voyage- 17IMullet river l2io 
 
 Helena 234 '-'^•''^^^'^'^ of places. -92' Muskego- 131 
 
 Henepm s voyage. • 17 
 
 History. 16 
 
 Historicalsummary25 
 
 Howard, fort 184 
 
 Hudson. 170 
 
 Indians 26 
 
 Internal improve- 
 ments..- • ■ 44 
 
 Iowa county 230! 
 
 Iron mountains -• -72 
 Iron ores. 71 
 
 L'eau Claire river- 247 
 
 Legislature 28 
 
 Limestone districl-64 
 
 Lisbon. 131 
 
 Long's expedition -24 
 Lynn. 170,256 
 
 " lake-- ••145 
 Muskos. 112 
 
 Musquewoc lake. • 128 
 
 IVagowickalake^- 
 Nashotah lakes- • 
 Natural History- 
 
 Navarino 
 
 Neenah river 
 
 145 
 145 
 -T5 
 102 
 108 
 145 
 121 
 
 Madison.- 219 
 
 Manitoo river-- ••112 
 
 Manitowoc. 120jIN'emahbin lake 
 
 county.119 Neshuto 
 
 river. •• 121 New Berlin 131 
 
 Marble 69 North lake. 146 
 
 T -11 1-0 T~ Marquette county.207 
 
 .Tanesville. • • • 1 /3, 17/ Marquette's voy'ge 17 Oak Creek.. 131 
 
 Jelferson. 182| Martin's creek • • • 1 12 Oakland 183 
 
 .Jefferson county- HcD^auvaise creek. •• 112 Oconomewoc •..• 131 
 river- ••252 " creek. 141 
 
 Johnstovvn.- 
 
 177 
 
 Judicial di6t'ts.30,256Memee creek 125! " lake.-146 
 
 Menomonee river- lOSjOconto river. 113 
 
 Kakalin. 99 " of Milwaukeel42 Oneida Indians- -- 111 
 
 Katakittckon. 114 " town of 131 Onion river. 125 
 
 Kauchee 143 Menomonee Fallsl42 Oshkosh 203 
 
 ICeeshaynic river- 209jMequon river. 126 Ossin river 189 
 
 Kenongamong • -• 155'Meqaanigo.- -131, 256 Ottawa ■• ••131
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Paris 
 
 Pekatonica.- • • 
 P'ensaukee- ••• ■ 
 
 Peshtego. 
 
 Pewaukee • 
 
 Pewaukee lake 
 Pewaugan lake 
 Pigeon creek- • 
 Pike 
 
 PAGE.; PAGE.! 
 
 ••154, Rubicon river' ••• 169 
 
 ••236 Rum river. 251; 
 
 ••113, Rush lake. 206 
 
 ..113i I 
 
 ••131, Sac, Prairie da- ••212, 
 ••146;SaintCroixcounty249 
 -.205 
 
 lake- ••250, 
 129 1 " river- •250, 
 
 154|SaintFrancis river25J; 
 
 Pine lake 147 Saint Louis river-252j 
 
 Pine river 210 Salem 154 
 
 Pishtakariver^-- -156 Salt 68! 
 
 Platteville. 242|Sandstone district- 56 
 
 ^latte Mounds- ••232 tSarah, lake- 
 
 ' " river 243 Sauk county 
 
 Pleasant Prairie- -154 
 Pofet au Sable- ••118 
 
 r*opulation 40 
 
 Portage county- ••214 
 
 Potosi 241 
 
 Prairie du Chien • • 246 
 Prairieviile. • -131, 136 
 Primitive district --54 
 
 Productions 42 
 
 Public lands. 31 
 
 Puckavva lake- •• -208 
 
 Racine. 150, 154 
 
 Racine county. • • 
 
 Rice lake. 
 
 Richland county 
 
 Richmond 
 
 Ripley lake. 
 
 Rivers 
 
 Rochester •• -152, 154 
 
 Rock county 173 
 
 " island. 117 
 
 " river- •-192,18- 
 '' town of-- ••177 
 
 Rockport 175 
 
 Root river 156 
 
 Round lake 147 
 
 217 
 212 
 
 creek • 129 
 
 " war. 25 
 
 Scarboro creek- --US 
 
 School lands 39 
 
 Second lake. 221 
 
 Secretary- > 28 
 
 Shabine lake. 117 
 
 Sharon 170 
 
 Sheboygan 124 
 
 " county- 123i 
 falls •••124; 
 
 " river- ■ -1241 
 
 Silver. 75 
 
 Silver lake 147 
 
 Sinipee 241 
 
 Sineinlwa 243 
 
 Skunk creek 157 
 
 Soaking mountain 246 
 South port -••153, 154 
 Spalding's creek •■ 113 
 Spring Prairie-- -- 171 
 State government -31 
 StockbridgeIndi'ns26 
 Stoney creek. -- - -129 
 
 Sturgeon bay 117 
 
 Sugar river. 228 
 
 Summit 131 
 
 P^CK, 
 
 Swan lake 21G 
 
 Taychet'da 198 
 
 Third lake 224 
 
 Tomahawk lake --248 
 
 Topography. 9 
 
 Trempaleau 248 
 
 Trout lake 248 
 
 Troy 171 
 
 Turtle lake. 172 
 
 Twin lakes -.-113,122 
 
 Union 177, 183 
 
 University lands.- -36 
 Upper Wisconsin -216 
 
 Vernon 131 
 
 Vieux Desert, Lad 14 
 
 WaKvortb county. 169 
 " town o'f.l71 
 
 Warren 131 
 
 Washington cou'yl27 
 
 Water spout 88 
 
 Waterford 153 
 
 Watertown 184 
 
 Waupakun 100 
 
 Waupun 198 
 
 Wauwatosa. 131 
 
 W^esacota river- • - 114 
 
 Wheatland. 154 
 
 Whitewater 171 
 
 Wind lake 155- 
 
 Wingville 242 
 
 Winnebagocounty202 
 
 lake.. -204 
 
 Wisconsin riv. 21 1,216 
 
 Wolf river. 114 
 
 Yorkville 154 
 
 Zinc ores 7'.^
 
 ADDITIONS AND CORRFXTIONS. 
 
 The times of holding the District Courts in the Second and 
 Third Judicial Districts, have been changed in some of the coun' 
 ties while these sheets were pasfing through the press. [See page 
 30.] They are now as follows: 
 
 SECOND DISTRICT. 
 
 Portage county— First Monday in April, and fifth Monday after 
 
 the fourth Monday in September. 
 Green county— Third Monday in April, and first Monday in Sep' 
 
 tembcr. 
 Rock county — F«urth Monday in April, and second Monday in 
 
 September, 
 Walworth county — Second Monday after the fourth Monday in 
 
 April, and fourth Monday in September. 
 Jefi'erson county— Fourth Monday after the fourth Monday in 
 
 April, and second Monday after the fourth Monday 
 
 in September. 
 Dane county — Fifth Monday after the fourth Monday in 1 .il. 
 
 and third Monday aftfr the fourth Monday in i. ^ 
 
 tember. 
 Sauk county— Fourth Monday in August. 
 
 THIRD DISTRICT. 
 
 Milwaukee county— Second Monday in June, and "vecond Mon' 
 day in November. 
 
 Racine coimty— Second Monday in April and last Monday in 
 October. 
 
 Dodge county— Third Monday in May, and first Monday in Oct'r. 
 
 Fond du Lac county— Second Wednesday after the fourth Mon- 
 day in May, and second Wednesday after the sec- 
 ond Monday in October. 
 
 Page 52, line 21st, after Oconomewoc lake, read 282— and add 
 La Belle lake, 273. 
 
 Page 53, for " Featherstonaugh," read " Featherstonhaugh." 
 
 Page 102. — The town of Howard, is now established from a 
 part of Green Bay lying west of the Neenah, and extending north 
 to the Montreal river. 
 
 Page 1!8, for "Point au Sale," read "Point au Sable." 
 
 Page 131. — The town of " Mequanigo" is now changed to 
 " JMukwonago." 
 
 Page 154— Add "Brighton," township two, and sections twenty 
 eight to thirty-six, inclusive, of town.<^hip three, in range twenty. 
 
 Page J 70, for "Lynn," read "Linn." This town is named in 
 honor of the late L. F. Linn, of Missouri, 
 
 8 2 6 8 1
 
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