THE EVOLUTION OF WISCONSIN.

(By REUBEN G. THWAITES, Secretary of State Historical Society.)

Spanish Dominion—1512–1634.

By virtue of early discoveries by her navigators and inland explorers, Spain laid a general but undefined claim to the greater part of the wilderness of North America, to which the name of Florida was given. This condition of affairs lasted from about 1512 until the irruption of the French, who penetrated the continent by means of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers and the Great Lakes, and gradually made claim to the inland water systems, as fast as discovered by their adventurous fur traders and missionaries. It should be understood, however, that there were few if any Spaniards within all this vast territory, nearer than the Gulf of Mexico.

The kings of Spain, therefore of Wisconsin, during this period were: Ferdinand V. (1512-1516), Charles I. (1516-1556), Philip II. (1556-1598), Philip III. (1598-1621), and Philip IV. (1621–1665).

French Dominion-1634--1760.

In 1634 (twenty-six years after the founding of Quebec) the explorer Jean Nicolet, sent out by Champlain, then governor of New France (later, Canada), entered what is now Wisconsin and introduced the French fur trade to our savages. Wisconsin may thereafter, until the downfall of New France in 1759-60, be considered as a part of New France, of which the governors were as follows: 1608-1635-Samuel de Champlain.

1636-1648-Charles Huault de Montmagny.

1648-1651-Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge.

1651-1656-Jean de Lauson.

1656-1657-Charles de Lauson-Charny.

1657-1658-Louis d'Ailleboust again.

1658-1661-Viscount Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson. 1661-1663-Viscount Pierre du Bois Avaugour.

1663-1665-Augustin de Saffray de Mezy.

1665-1672-Daniel de Remy de Courcelles.

1672-1682-Louis de Buade, count de Paluan et Frontenac.

1682-1685- -Le Febure de la Barre.

1685-1689-Jacques Réné de Brisay, marquis de Denonville.

1689-1698- -Count Frontenac again.

1698-1703-Louis Hector de Callières-Bonnevue.

1703-1725-Philip de Rigaud, marquis de Vaudreuil.

1726-1747-Charles, marquis de Beauharnois.

1747-1749-Michel Rolland Barrin, count de la Galissonière.

1749-1752-Jacques Pierre de Taffanel, marquis de la Jonquière.

1752-1755-Marquis Duquesne de Menneville.

1755-1760-Marquis de Vaudreuil again.

During the period of time when Wisconsin was a part of New France (practically 1634-1760), France had only three successive kings-Louis XIII, who reigned from 1610 to 1643; his successor, Louis XIV., who reigned till 1715; and Louis XV., who reigned till 1774. All white persons then in Wisconsin, and (nominally) all the savages within our borders, were subjects of these French kings.

English Dominion-1760-1783.

Immediately upon the surrender of New France to the English, as the result of the French and Indian War, Wisconsin became, with other western country, general English colonial territory, sacred to the prosecution of the fur trade. In 1774, King George III., by the so-called "Quebec Act" made it a part of the Prov Ince of Quebec, and thus it remained until the close of the Revolutionary War

when by the treaty of 1783, the country "northwest of the River Ohio" and eastward of the Mississippi River was ceded to the United States.

The governor of Canada, during the time Wisconsin was under English dominion, were: Sir Jeffery Amherst (as commander-in-chief), 1760 1763; Gen. James Murray (the first regular governor), 1763 1766; Palinus Emelius Irvine (as president of council, to cover a hiatus of three months). 1766; Sir Guy Carleton (as lieutenant governor and commander-in-chief), 1766-1774; but from 1770 1774 Hector Theophilus Cramahé was acting lieutenant-governor while Carleton was in England; Carleton returned to Canada in 1774, as governorgeneral, serving till 1778; Gen. Sir Frederick Haldimand (governor general), 1778-1784. While the Northwest nominally became United States territory by the treaty of 1783, England still held the military posts on the upper lakes till 1796-among them, Mackinac, of which Green Bay was a recognized dependency. Henry Hamilton (lieutenant-governor of Canada) succeeded Haldimand in 1784; then followed Col. Henry Hope (president of council), 1785; Guy Carleton again (now as Lord Dorchester, and governor general), 1785-1792; and John Graves Simcoe (lieutenant-governor of the Upper Province of Canada), 1792-1796.

American Dominion-1783 to date.

Wisconsin a part of the Northwest Territory.-Owing to the vague and undefined boundaries given to the original English coast colonies in their respective charters, at a time when little or nothing was known of the geography of North America, several of the states claimed territory in the Northwest; but finally they compromised by ceding these claims to the federal government, in order to form a national domain, from which to create new states. The country northwest of the River Ohio was therefore, by the Ordinance of 1787, erected into the Northwest Territory, of which Wisconsin of course became a part. The governor was Gen. Arthur St. Clair, 1789 1802.

A part of Indiana Territory.--May 7, 1800, the Northwest Territory was divided into two territories on a line beginning on the Ohio river opposite the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery (near the present Greenville, Ohio), and thence north to the international boundary; all east of that line became Ohio, and west of it Indiana Territory. Thus Wisconsin became a part of the latter. The governor of Indiana Territory at this time was Gen. William Henry Harrison, 1800-1811.

Various changes took place in the shape of Indiana Territory-as when (Fab. 19, 1803) what is now all of the lower Michigan peninsula was added to Indiana; and when (Jan. 11, 1805) Michigan Territory was set off, consisting only of the lower peninsula.

A part of Illinois Territory.-February 3, 1809, Indiana Territory was ent down into the present limits of the state of that name, and all the rest of what had been Indiana Territory was set off as Illinois Territory-the latter of course taking in what is now Wisconsin. The governor of Illinois Territory was Ninian Edwards, 1809-1818.

Attached to Michigan Territory.-April 18, 1818, the state of Illinois was created, with its existing boundaries; and all west of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river was added to Michigan Territory-that is how Wisconsin became a part of Michigan. Michigan Territory was further aggrandized (June 28, 1834) by adding to it, for administrative purposes, all the country west of the Mississippi and north of Missouri, as far as the Missouri river-thus including the site of what is now the city of Bismarck, N. D. The governors of Michigan Territory at this time were, Lewis Cass, 1813-1831; George B. Porter, 1831 1834; and S. T. Mason, 1834-1836.

Wisconsin Territory.-April 20, 1836, Wisconsin Territory was erected, embracing all of what is now Wisconsin, westward to the Missouri river, thus including the present Minnesota, Iowa, and much of the two Dakotas.

June 12, 1838, the Territory of Iowa was erected out of that portion of WisWhen Wisconsin was admitted into consin lying west of the Mississippi river. the Union (May 29, 1848), the portion lying between St. Croix river and the Mississippi was detached and given to the new Territory of Minnesota-Wisconsin thus being awarded the same boundaries it possesses today.

For details of these several boundary changes, with illustrative maps, sce artiThe story of how Wiscle in Wisconsin Historical Collections, xi., pp. 451-501.

consin acquired statehood, is given in a previous article, see pp. 17 20.

AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.

Early Explorations.—1634.-Jean Nicolet was sent by Samuel de Champlain, governor of New France, at Quebec, to explore the northwest. He came by way of the Ottawa river, and Lakes Huron and Michigan, and landed on what 18 now Wisconsin soil just below the mouth of Fox river, at the head of Green Bay. Clothed in a silken robe, he advanced into a village of the Winnebagoes, discharg ing pistols held in each hand. He was received with welcome, the Indians thinking him a god, armed with the power to make lightning and thunder. A great feast was then held, 120 beavers being eaten. He then proceeded up the Fox river to near the present site of Berlin, where was a palisaded village of the Mascoutins.

1654.--Pierre Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart des Grosseilliers followed in the wake of Nicolet, and wintered among the Pottawattomies in the Green Bay region. In the spring of 1655 they went up the Fox river, made a portage and entered the Wisconsin, spending four months on the trip. The published narrative of Radisson indicates that possibly they proceeded as far as the mouth of the Wisconsin and saw the Mississippi; but scholars do not agree upon this.

1659.--The same adventurers, Radisson and Grosscilliers, with six other fur traders and a band of Huron Indians, skirted the south shore of Lake Superior in their canoes, passed the Pictured Rocks, learned of the great mines of copper, and, late in autumn, entered Chequamegon Bay. Near the present site of Ashland they built a crude fort close to the water's edge. Hiding their stores in a cache, they visited the Huron village on the headwaters of what was apparently the Chippewa river, and wandered as far west as the Mille Lac region in Minnesota, there wintering among the Sioux.

1660. The same party returned to Chequamegon Bay and built a fort on Oak Point, eastward of Ashland. They returned to Three Rivers in Canada the same year.

Father Pierre Ménard, a Jesuit missionary, came to Keweenaw Bay this year. In the spring of 1661, after a winter of great hardship among the Indians, he and a white companion set out to visit the Huron villages on the Chippewa and Black rivers. They suffered intensely from mosquitoes, hunger, and the insolence and cruelty of the Indian guides, but finally, in safety, reached the Wisconsin river, which they descended for a considerable distance. While portaging Bill Cross rapids, Ménard lost the obscure trail, and was never seen again. He probably died from exposure. His kettle, breviary, and cassock are said to have been afterward seen in the possession of the Indians.

1665.-Father Claude Allouez, another Jesuit missionary, was now sent to re-open the mission on Lake Superior. He came from Canada, by way of the lakes, into Chequamegon Bay, and chose for the site of the mission a point on the southwest shore, between the sites now occupied by Washburn and Ashland, which he named "La Pointe du Saint Esprit." Remaining here four years, he was relieved by a younger priest, Father Jacques Marquette.

1669.-Father Allouez was invited by the Pottawattomies to Depere (named from Rapides des Peres, or the "Fathers' Rapids"), where he established the mission of St. Francis Xavier.

1670. The Sieur Saint Lusson, piloted by a prominent fur-trade adventurer, Nicholas Perrot, came to Sault Ste. Marie and there in the presence of Allouez and other Jesuits, with Perrot acting as interpreter, took possession of the North

west in the name of the French king. Among the party was Louis Joliet, a professional fur-trader and explorer.

1672.-Father Allouez established the mission of Saint Mark on the Wolf river, on or near Lake Shawano. He made a voyage up Fox river, visiting the Foxes and Mascoutins, above Lake Winnebago; among them he established the mission of St. James, the following year.

1673.—Louis Joliet and Father Marquette set out in May, from St. Ignace mission, at the Straits of Mackinac, in canoes paddled by voyageurs, or boatmen, and reached the Mascoutin village on the Upper Fox, June 7, pushed up through its reeds, made the portage at the present site of Portage, into the Wisconsin river, which they descended to its mouth, arriving there June 17. They descended the Mississippi as far as the mouth of the Arkansas. The narrative and map of this voyage and journey by Marquette has made the names of Joliet and Marquette immortal; Joliet's papers unfortunately were lost by the upsetting of his canoe in La Chine rapids, near Montreal.

1674.-Joliet and Marquette, returning from their canoe voyage, came up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, made portage to Chicago, thence paddled down the shores of Lake Michigan, and in September were again at the St. Francis Xavier mission. In October, 1674, Marquette started with two assistants to establish a mission at Kaskaskia, among the Illinois Indians. Proceeding by way of Green Bay, they came to Sturgeon Bay; thence they made the portage eastward across the peninsula, where the Sturgeon Bay ship canal now is, paddled up the lake to the mouth of the Chicago river, where they wintered on a sand dune near the shore, in much discomfort. In the spring they proceeded to the Illinois river and Kaskaskia. But a mortal sickness was on the intrepid Marquette; and he turned back to Mackinac, hoping to die among his brethren. He died on the journey, May 19, of a dysentery brought on by the hardships and privations he had suffered. He was buried at the mouth of a little stream on the Michigan side of the lake, some little distance south of the high point called the Sleeping Bear.

1679. The great explorer, La Salle, appeared upon the scene, arriving at Green Bay early in September, in a schooner built at Niagara river above the falls, called the "Griffin," a rude figure of which fabulous monster graced the prow. Sending her back laden with furs, to satisfy his creditors at Quebec, he started with a party of fourteen men in canoes laden with forges, merchandise, and arms, up the west shore of the lake. The voyage was one of great peril, as the lake was swept by gales. They were nearly swamped in landing. Touching at one of these landings and camps, at or near the present site of Milwaukee, in the bay of Milwaukee river (which the Jesuit Relation for that year called "Millioke"), they were visited by a band of Fox (or Outagamie) Indians, who stole several articles from their camp. La Salle captured a young savage and bringing him into camp to hold as a hostage, prepared to fight the Indians, who were six score strong. He then held a parley, induced them to restore the stolen property or make recompense; this accomplished, he moved on up the lake coast.

The same year a daring chief of the coureurs du bois (wood-rangers), Daniel Grayson du Lhut (Duluth), explored the Upper Mississippi, taking special note of the Wisconsin and Black rivers. Visiting the Mille Lac Sioux, his party went with their band on a great buffalo hunt, below the St. Croix river on the Wisconsin side.

1680.--Father IIennepin, a Franciscan friar in La Salle's party, with two adventurous voyageurs, Accau and Auguel, set out, under orders of La Salle, to explore the Upper Mississippi. Leaving the mouth of Illinois river, March 12, he passed the mouth of the Wisconsin, and the site of Prairie du Chien. Below Lake Pepin the party were taken prisoners by the Sioux, and carried to the present site of St. Paul, thence to the Mille Lacs. Kept here for two months, they were started with a party on a buffalo hunt. At the mouth of Rum river, Hennepin and Auguel were set at liberty, given a gun, knife, an earthen pot and a small canoe. They began their journey, descended the river into the Mississippi, and passed the great falls, which Hennepin named after St. Anthony. Nearing the mouth of the Chippewa river, being driven by starvation, they ascended that river and joined a party of Sioux hunters, by whom they were roughly treated, but permitted to live.

Du Lhut voyaged from Lake Superior to the Mississippi with a small party. He canoed up the Bois Brulé-now a famous trout stream, midway between Bayfield and Superior,-crossed over from its upper waters to the head waters of the Saint Croix, and descended that river into the Mississippi. He there heard of some white men with the Sioux, and pushing on found Hennepin and Auguel, with the Indian hunting party near the mouth of the Chippewa river. Rescuing Ilennepin and his companion, the two parties returned to the Mille Lacs. That year, in his voyage up the river, Father Hennepin was the first white man to visit the fine prairie on this river, now Prairie du Chien. In autumn, Du Lhut and Hennepin drifted down to the mouth of the Wisconsin river, thence up that stream, they portaged across to the Fox, down which they paddled, and thence to Mackinac. Du Lhut made several voyages of this kind later.

1683.-La Sueur, a prominent fur-trader, passed the Fox and Wisconsin route, thence ascended the Mississippi to the Falls of St. Anthony.

1685.-Nicholas Perrot, a daring chief of the coureurs du bois, whose previous explorations are above narrated, was appointed the "commandant of the west," with a small squad of twenty soldiers. He came to Green Bay, and there met Indians from the west, who told him of white men far to the southwest who lived in houses that "walked on the water,"--probably Spaniards. Perrot, anxious for further discoveries, passed over the Fox-Wisconsin route. Ile wintered on the east bank of the Mississippi, about a mile above where is now the village of Treinpealeau. Afterwards he established several trading posts on the river, among them Fort St. Nicholas, near the site of Prairie du Chien, and worked lead mines in Iowa and Wisconsin.

1689. Perrot took possession of the St. Croix, St. Peter, and Upper Mississippi valleys, in the name of the French king.

1693.-La Sueur was sent by the authorities of New France, at Quebec, to restore the French prestige in the west, which had been much weakened by the intrigues of the Dutch-English traders from Albany on the Hudson. He built a stockaded fort at La Pointe, on Chequamegon Bay, another on an island in the Mississippi, near Red Wing, Minnesota, which became the center of western com

merce.

1699. Returning from France, which he had visited, Perrot brought with him thirty experienced miners, and on his voyage up the Mississippi found lead mines on or near the sites of Dubuque and Galena, and at the "Smoke Diggings," near Potosi, Wisconsin.

In October, Father St. Cosme, a Sulpitian missionary from Quebec, found the Fox Indians opposed to his passing up the Fox river route to the Mississippi, and went south to the west shore of the lake. He stopped, as is supposed, at the present site of Sheboygan, where another missionary, Father Marest, had wintered and planted a cross.

1700.-Father St. Cosme visited Milwaukee Bay, finding there many Mascoutins, Foxes, Pottawattomies, etc. He calls the Milwaukee river the "Milwarick." Lead mines discovered in southwest Wisconsin by La Sueur, a French adventurer. Wars With the Fox or Outagamie Indians.-1706-1743.—The Fox Indians having grown quite insolent and obstructive of the passage of the great water way from Green Bay to the Mississippi, demanded tribute of all traders and voyagers. It is related, though on questionable authority, that Marin, a bold French captain, was sent to punish them. At the head of a large party of soldiers, half-breeds, and coureurs du bois, he ascended the frozen surface of the Fox river, surprised the enemy at Winnebago Rapids (at Neenah), and slew many hundreds of them.

1711.—The Illinois country and all Wisconsin placed in command of GovernorGeneral Dirau d'Artaguette, with headquarters at the site of Mobile (Ala.).

1712.—The Fox or Outagamies made a desperate attempt to destroy Detroit, but were thwarted and themselves severely punished. Full of hate, they robbed and butchered all travelers. De Louvigny, the king's lieutenant at Quebec, was sent at the head of 800 men to destroy them.

1716. Leaving Quebec, March 14, 1716, he appeared before the Indian village, at the Little Butte des Mortes, 37 miles above Green Bay, surrounded their fort, which was heavily palisaded, laid siege to it and approached it by trenches. He