The Story of Pierce County

The Story of Pierce County From The Spring Valley (Wisconsin) Sun 1904-1906 by X.Y.Z (Allen P. Weld) Reprinted by Brookhaven Press La Crosse, Wisconsin From the Rare Book Collection of the Wisconsin Historical Society Library The Story of Wpii^^^^ BYX-Y.Z. About forty years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Pl^-j mouth Rock, some hardy French Voyageurs crossed the territory lyi^ between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River for the purpose liii exploration and of establishing- trading* posts for trading^ with th^ Indians. Among- the names of these daring* adventurers we find that of Menard, who visited the Father of Waters in 1661; but no trace re mains of his work. Tn 1680 Father Hennepin, a French priest, came across what is now I known as the State of Wisconsin, probably by way of the Wisconsin River, and ascended to the Falls of St. Anthony, meeting- on the way another Frenchman who afterwards became famous as a border warrior and Indian trader, and who Is best known as Duluth. The latter seems to have come from the head of Lake Superior, crossing- the portage between the watershed of the lakes and that of the St. Croix river and descending* the latter to its mouth. He met Father Hennepin near the site of Prescott, and with him followed up the great river to the falls. This company seem to have given the name of the Falls of St. Anthony of Padua to the magnificent falls, and in their records of the expedition described them in g^lowing colors. We see from this brief sketch that the history of Pierce County, so far as its knowledge by white men is concerned, dates back to a timei almost contemporary with the settlement of New England, but that its ' growth was slow, and the incidents of its progress little known. The reason for this is found in the fact that the people who first came to Massachusetts settled there to make a home in the wilderness where they might worship God after the dictates of their own conscience,, free from arbitrary laws and relentless persecution. They came to de-' velop a new country, to establish institutions of education and religion, and with little thought of personal gain. But those who sought the western wilds did so for purpose of trad ing for furs and other valuable products of the forests. They had no idea of making homes, or of remaining longer than until they could reap the fruits of their commercial enterprises. Then, too, the region was remote from the seacoast; it was inhabited by Indians of warlike nature who, while ready to reap advantage by trading with the white men, opposed their taking rights in the soil. France too, forbade by law the establishment of forts or trading posts for private gain, and at that time that country claimed dominion over all the vast domain lying west of the Mississippi, and on the east bank of the river the English made no attempts at either exploration or settlement until a later date, the wars between the two nations preventing such attempts. 2 . ^Mêr'-pel^fT-was "declared,"' bo^^^^-we Ifia/ t^^^-TS85^7âffiaW Carver, an Englishman, visited St. AMhoajrlîi^^ ^ve> obtained a* ^rlint from the Indians of that |5arT of Wisconsin lying* b^-' tween the Chippewa River and St. Anthony Palls south of a line run:( ning ^Bt from the falls. This supposed Indian grant was never ad- imitted by the English government, and though attempts were made Fafter 1780 to obtain the sanction of the United States, it was never ^recognized by this government. The year 1803, however, marked a new era in the history of the tipper Valley of the Mississippi. In that year the United States pur chased from Napoleon that vast territory now familiarly known as the Louisiana Purchase, and from that time the real history of the valley may be said to have begun. The Government, soon after the sale had iDeen perfected, sent Zebulon Pike up the river with a small command to> examine sites for forts, the result of his exploration being the building| •of a fort upon a commanding spot at the junction of the St. Peters and Mississippi rivers, which is now known as Fort Snelling; this was built in 1819. He was sent by the government to explore the upper valley of the Mississippi below St. Anthony Falls, to drive out Indian traders who were not complying with the laws of the United States, and to procure from the Indians grants of land for the use of the government. In pursuance of this duty he arrived at the junction pf ^^St. Peters and Mississippi Rivers late in the fall of 1805, and soon^^made a treaty with the Indians by which they granted to the United States a strip of land nine miles in width on each side of the Mississippi fto^ the^ mouth of St. Peters to St. Anthony Palls. ^ But other matters took the attention of the pflBcials, ^îd it was not until 1819 that the importance of this region beg^ to jDe even dimly realized. In that year, however, a detachment w»s sent up to erect a fort at some convenient point to protect the slowly incoming settlers and prevent inroads by unauthorized English traders. That winter the detachment encamped and the flowing year com menced the erection of the fort, the cornerstone beicfg laid on the 20th of September, 1820. The name given to the new structure was Port St. Anthony. This was changed however by order of General Scott in 1824 to Fort Snelling. It is notipeable that, notwithstanding the fact that the government had purchased from France the great territory lying west of the Mississippi, it was still thought necessary to obtain grants from the Indians, who were in fact the only real owners of the soil. Hence it was that it was not until 1838 that the government asserted any complete! title to the lands; but in that year, treaties with the Indians having' been made, the land became the property of the United States. \* NOTES. ' On Father Hennepin's expedition up the Mississippi there were with him Michel Accou and Antoine Auguel, two coureurs de bois; Accou 5 was really leader of the party. These met a party of Sioux going south; upon a scalping expedition, and persuaded the Indians to return with them. They camped about three miles below where St. Paul now is, and organized a buffalo hunt over into what is now the towns of Oak Grove, Diamond Bluff and Clifton—the first time white men ever hunted in Pierce County. 8 Du Lhut, as the tratder who^lveâirDiluth spelled his name, was just in time when he descended the St. Croix River. Father Hennepin^ and his *'friends", the Sioux scalping party, had gone down into LaJ^ Pepin, and were hunting in the dense forests north of that tatkCand along the Chippewa River bottoms. The Indians had robbed Hennepin- and his companions, who were practically prisoners. Du Lhut lost no time in correcting this, and the Sioux were very friendly to him ever after. CHAPTER II. An almost immediate result of the erection of Fort Snelling was the formation of a syndicate composed of army officers stationed at the fort which made a claim of several hundred acres at the Junction of the St. Croix and Missis- «sippi Rivers in the yearl 1827. Among these was Philander Prescott, who was em ployed at the fort as an Indian interpreter. Prescott w as given the charge of the land by the syndicate, and erected a small trading post around which there soon grew a small i hamlet of half breeds and possibly some white adventurers. I Prescott being recalled to the fort to attend to his oflicial I duties, one Reed was left in charge, he being later succeeded by a Frenchman named Moschia. In the yea^r 1841 Congress passed an act forbidding the acquirement of public lands by syndicates of this character, and the enterprise fell through, and wê hear little of any of its promoters except Prescott. He however seemed to be well convinced of the future possibilities of this section of the country, and hence, when; the United States had acquired by treaties with the Indians! the fuU possession of the territory and surveyed the lands, throwing them open to public entry, he in the year 1849 -entered several tracts of land on the present site of the City of Prescott, and soon after had the tract laid out into vil- !iagelots. His entries were tie first m^vde in Pierce County (then 'liowever known aki i '. (i-oix* County) and the only other person to make a purchase of gcîêrnment land within the county now known as- Pierce in- that year was Walter B. Mapes, whose name, however, seems to have been used by Joel Foster, rather than for personal purposes, inasmuch as. Mr. Foster acquired the title from Mr. Mapes within a few^ months. 4 l&w sM^lers Ead^-Ke^ &t<l^ thieir Waj^ into this cc^&try; Among these welhl the name of Hilton Doe, who' &st came up the river in 1838, soon returning, however, to come back in 1845. George Schaser came first in 1841, but went back ap parently to seek his bride, as he returned in 1844 with Mrs. Schaser, who has the honor of being the first white woman to settle in the lower part of the St.

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