Inclosures and mounds of the prehistoric people, it is generally believed, constituted but parts of one system; the former being, in the main, intended for purposes of defense or religion; the latter, for sacrifice, for temple sites, for burial places, or for observatories. In selecting sites for many of these earth-works, the Mound-Builders appear to have been influenced by motives which prompt civilized men to choose localities for their great marts; hence, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities of the West are founded on ruins of pre-existing structures. River terraces and river bottoms seem to have been the favorite places for these earth-works. In such localities, the natural advantages of the country could be made available with much less trouble than in portions of the country lying at a distance from water-courses. In Wisconsin, therefore, as in other parts, the same general idea of selecting points contiguous to the principal natural thoroughfares is found to have prevailed with the Mound-Builders; for their works are seen in the basin of the Fox river of the Illinois, in that of Rock river and its branches, in the valley of Fox river of Green bay, in that of the Wisconsin, as well as near the waters of the Mississippi.

While a few circumvallations and immense mounds, such as are common to certain other portions of the United States, are discoverable in Wisconsin, yet by far the largest number of earthworks have one peculiarity not observable, except in a few instances, outside the State. This characteristic is a very striking one The fact is revealed that they are imitative in formresembling beasts, reptiles, birds, fish, man. All these, for convenience, are usually classed under the general name of "animal mounds," although some are in the similitude of trees, some of war clubs, others of tobacco pipes. Generally, these figures are in groups, though sometimes they are seen alone. For what purpose these earth-works were heaped up-they rise above the surface two, four, and sometimes six feet-or what particular uses they were intended to subserve, is unknown. It is, however, safe to affirm that they had some significance. A number resemble the bear; a few, the buffalo; others, the raccoon. Lizards, turtles, and even tadpoles, are outlined in the forms of some. The war eagle, and the war club has each its representative. All this, of course, could not have been a mere happening-the work of chance. The sizes of these mounds are as various as their forms. One near Cassville, in Grant county, very complete in its representation of an animal, supposed to be of the elephant species, was found, upon measurement, to have a total length of one hundred and thirty-five feet. Another in Sauk county, quite perfect in its resemblance to the form of a man, was of equal length-a veritable colossus; prone, it is true, and soon to disappear, if it has not already been destroyed, by ravages of a superior civilization.

In portions of Wisconsin, as well as in a few places outside the State, are found earth-works of another kind, but quite as remarkable as the "animal mounds," which, from their supposed use, have been styled "garden beds." They are ridges, or beds, about six inches in height and four feet in width, ranged, with much apparent method, in parallel rows, sometimes rectangular in shape, sometimes of various but regular and symmetrical curves, and occupying fields of from ten to a hundred acres.

The Mound-Builders have left many relics, besides their earthworks, to attest their presence in Wisconsin in ages past. Scattered widely are found stone and copper axes, spear-heads, and arrow-heads, also various other implements-evidently their handiwork. As these articles are frequently discovered many feet beneath the surface, it argues a high antiquity for the artificers. Whether they had the skill to mould their copper implements is doubtful. Such as plainly show the work of hammering, indicate an art beyond that possessed by the Red men who peopled America upon its first discovery by Europeans. In a few instances, fragments of human skulls have been found so well preserved as to enable a comparison to be drawn between the crania of

this ancient race and those of modern ones; the results, however, of these comparisons throw little, if any, light upon "the dark backward and abysm." of mound-building times.

The evidences of an extinct people of superior intelligence is very strikingly exhibited in the ancient copper mines of the Lake Superior region. Here are to be found excavations in the solid rock; heaps of rubble and dirt; copper utensils fashioned into knives, chisels, and spear and arrow-heads; stone hammers; wooden bowls and shovels; props and levers for raising and supporting the mass copper; and ladders for ascending and descending the pits. These mines were probably worked by people not only inhabiting what is now the State of Wisconsin, but territory farther to the southward. The copper was here obtained, it is believed, which has been found in many places, even as far away as the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, wrought into various implements and utensils. But there are no traces in Wisconsin of a copper age" succeeding a "stone age," discernible in any prehistoric relics. They all refer alike to one age the indefinite past; to one people-the Mound-Builders.

II. THE INDIAN TRIBES OF WISCONSIN.

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When, as early, it is believed, as 1634, civilized man first set foot upon the territory now included within the boundaries of Wisconsin, he discovered, to his surprise, that upon this wide area met and mingled clans of two distinct and wide-spread families-the Algonquins and Sioux. The tribes of the former, moving westward, checked the advance of the latter in their excursions eastward. As yet there had been no representatives of the Huron-Iroquois seen west of Lake Michigan-the members of this great family, at that date dwelling in safety in the extensive regions northward and southward of the Erie and Ontario lakes. Already had the French secured a foot-hold in the extensive valley of the St. Lawrence; and, naturally enough, the chain of the Great Lakes led their explorers to the mouth of Green bay, and up that watercourse and its principal tributary, Fox river, to the Wisconsin, an affluent of the Mississippi. On the right, in ascending this bay, was seen, for the first time, a nation of Indians, lighter in complexion than neighboring tribes, and remarkably well formed, now well known as the MENOMONEES.

This nation is of Algonquin stock, but their dialect differed so much from the surrounding tribes of the same family, it having strange guttural sounds and accents, as well as peculiar inflections of verbs and other parts of speech, that, for a long time, they were supposed to have a distinct language. Their traditions point to an emigration from the East at some remote period. When first visited by the French missionaries, these Indians subsisted largely upon wild rice, from which they took their name. The harvest time of this grain was in the month of September. It grew spontaneously in little streams with slimy bottoms, and in marshy places. The harvesters went in their canoes across these watery fields, shaking the ears right and left as they advanced, the grain falling easily, if ripe, into the bark receptacle beneath. To clear it from chaff and strip it of a pellicle inclosing it, they put it to dry on a wooden lattice above a small fire, which was kept up for several days. When the rice was well dried, it was placed in a skin of the form of a bag, which was then forced into a hole, made on purpose, in the ground. They then tread it out so long and so well, that the grain being freed from the chaff, was easily winnowed. After this, it was pounded to meal, or left unpounded, and boiled in water seasoned with grease. It thus became a very palatable diet. It must not be inferred that this was the only food of the Menomonees; they were adepts in fishing, and hunted with skill game which abounded in the forests.

the

For many years after their discovery, the Menomonees had their homes and hunting

grounds upon, or adjacent to, the Menomonee river. Finally, after the lapse of a century and a quarter, down to 1760, when the French yielded to the English all claims to the country, the territory of the Menomonees had shifted somewhat to the westward and southward, and their principal village was found at the head of Green bay, while a smaller one was still in existence at the mouth of their favorite stream. So slight, however, had been this change, that the country of no other of the surrounding tribes had been encroached upon by the movement.

In 1634, the Menomonees probably took part in a treaty with a representative of the French, who had thus early ventured so far into the wilds of the lake regions. More than a score of years elapsed before the tribe was again visited by white men,-that is to say, there are no authentic accounts of earlier visitations. In 1660, Father René Menard had penetrated the Lake Superior country as far, at least, as Kewenaw, in what is now the northern part of Michigan, whence some of his French companions probably passed down the Menomonee river to the waters of Green bay the following year; but no record of the Indians, through whose territory they passed, was made by these voyagers. Ten years more-1670-brought to the Menomonees (who doubtless had already been visited by French fur-traders) Father Claudius Allouez, to win them to Christianity. He had previously founded a mission upon the bay of Chegoimegon, now Chaquamegon, or Ashland bay, an arm of Lake Superior, within the present State of Wisconsin, in charge of which, at that date, was Father James Marquette. Proceeding from the "Sault" on the third of November, Allouez, early in December, 1669, reached the mouth of Green bay, where, on the third, in an Indian village of Sacs, Pottawattamies, Foxes and Winnebagoes, containing about six hundred souls, he celebrated the holy mass for the first time upon this new field of his labors, -eight Frenchmen, traders with the Indians, whom the missionary found there upon his arrival, taking part in the devotions. His first Christian work with the Menomonees was performed in May of the next year. Allouez found this tribe a feeble one, almost exterminated by war. He spent but little time with them, embarking, on the twentieth of that month, after a visit to some Pottawattamies and Winnebagoes, "with a Frenchman and a savage to go to Sainte Mary of the Sault." His place was filled by Father Louis André, who, not long after, erected a cabin upon the Menomonee river, which, with one at a village where his predecessor had already raised the standard of the cross, was soon burned by the savages; but the missionary, living almost constantly in his canoe, continued for some time to labor with the Menomonees and surrounding tribes The efforts of André were rewarded with some conversions among the former; for Marquette, who visited them in 1673, found many good Christians among them.

The record of ninety years of French domination in Wisconsin-beginning in June, 1671, and ending in October, 1761-brings to light but little of interest so far as the Menomonees are concerned. Gradually they extended their intercourse with the white fur traders. Gradually and with few interruptions (one in 1728, and one in 1747 of a serious character) they were drawn under the banner of France, joining with that government in its wars with the Iroquois ; in its contests, in 1712, 1729, 1730, and 1751, with the Foxes; and, subsequently, in its conflicts with the English.

The French post, at what is now Green Bay, Brown county, Wisconsin, was, along with the residue of the western forts, surrendered to the British in 1760, although actual possession of the former was not taken until the Fall of the next year. The land on which the fort stood was claimed by the Menomonees. Here, at that date, was their upper and principal village, the lower one being at the mouth of the Menomonee river. These Indians soon became reconciled to the English occupation of their territory, notwithstanding the machinations of French traders. who endeavored to prejudice them against the new comers. The Menomonees, at this time, were very much reduced, having, but a short time previous, lost three hundred of their warriors

by the small pox, and most of their chiefs in the late war in which they had been engaged by the then French commander there, against the English. They were glad to substitute English for French traders; as they could purchase supplies of them at one half the price they had previously paid. It was not long before the sincerity of the Menomonees was put to the test. Pontiac's War of 1763 broke out, and the post of Mackinaw was captured. The garrison, however, at Green bay was not only not attacked by the savages, but, escorted by the Menomonees and other tribes, crossed Lake Michigan in safety to the village of L'Arbre Croche; thence making their way to Montreal. The Menomonees continued their friendship to the English, joining with them against the Colonies during the Revolution, and fighting on the same side during the war of 1812-15

When, in July, 1816, an American force arrived at Green bay to take possession of the country, the Menomonees were found in their village near by, very peaceably inclined. The commander of the troops asked permission of their chief to build a fort. "My Brother!" was the response," how can we oppose your locating a council-fire among us? You are too strong for us. Even if we wanted to oppose you we have scarcely got powder and ball to make the attempt. One favor we ask is, that our French brothers shall not be disturbed. You can choose any place you please for your fort, and we shall not object." No trouble had been anticipated from the Menomonees, and the expectations of the government of the United States in that regard were fully realized. What added much to the friendship now springing up between the Menomonees and the Americans was the fact that the next year-1817-the annual contribution, which for many years had been made by the British, consisting of a shirt, leggins, breech-clout, and blanket for each member or the tribe, and for each family a copper kettle, knives, axes, guns and ammunition, was withheld by them.

It was found by the Americans, upon their occupation of the Menomonee territory, that some of the women of that tribe were married to traders and boatmen who had settled at the head of the bay, there being no white women in that region. Many of these were Canadians of French extraction; hence the anxiety that they should be well treated, which was expressed by the Menomonees upon the arrival of the American force. At this period there was a considerable trade carried on with these Indians at Prairie du Chien, as many of them frequently wintered on the Mississippi. The first regular treaty with this tribe was "made and concluded" on the thirtieth day of March, 1817, "by and between William Clark, Ninian Edwards, and Auguste Chouteau, commissioners on the part and behalf of the United States of America, of the one part," and the chiefs and warriors, deputed by the Menomonees, of the other part. By the terms of this compact all injuries were to be forgiven and forgotten; perpetual peace established; lands, heretofore ceded to other governments, confirmed to the United States; all prisoners to be delivered up; and the tribe placed under the protection of the United States, "and of no other nation, power, or sovereign, whatsoever." The Menomonees were now fully and fairly, and for the first time, entitled to be known as "American Indians," in contradistinction to the term which had been so long used as descriptive of their former allegiance-" British Indians."

The territory of the Menomonees, when the tribe was taken fully under the wing of the General Government, had become greatly extended. It was bounded on the north by the dividing ridge between the waters flowing into Lake Superior and those flowing south into Green bay and the Mississippi; on the east, by Lake Michigan; on the south, by the Milwaukee river, and on the west by the Mississippi and Black rivers. This was their territory; though they were practically restricted to the occupation of the western shore of Lake Michigan, lying between the mouth of Green bay on the north and the Milwaukee river on the south, and to a somewhat indefinite area west. Their general claim as late as 1825, was north to the Chippewa country:

east to Green bay and Lake Michigan; south to the Milwaukee river, and west to Black river. And what is most surprising is that the feeble tribe of 1761 had now, in less than three quarters of a century, become a powerful nation, numbering between three and four thousand.

The Menomonee territory, as late as 1831, still preserved its large proportions. Its eastern division was bounded by the Milwaukee river, the shore of Lake Michigan, Green bay, Fox river, and Winnebago lake; its western division, by the Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers on the west; Fox river on the south; Green bay on the east, and the high lands whence flow the streams into Lake Superior, on the north. This year, however, it was shorn of a valuable and large part by the tribe ceding to the United States all the eastern division, estimated at two and one half million acres. The following year, the Menomonees aided the General Government in the Black Hawk war.

That the Menomonees might, as much as possible, be weaned from their wandering habits, their permanent home was designated to be a large tract lying north of Fox river and east of Wolf river. Their territory farther west, was reserved for their hunting grounds until such time as the General Government should desire to purchase it. In 1836, another portion, amounting to four million acres, lying between Green bay on the east and Wolf river on the west, was disposed of to the United States, besides a strip three miles in width from near the portage north, on each side of the Wisconsin river and forty-eight miles long-still leaving them in peaceable possession of a country about one hundred and twenty miles long, and about eighty broad.

Finally, in 1848, the Menomonees sold all their lands in Wisconsin to the General Government, preparatory to their movement to a reservation beyond the Mississippi of six hundred thousand acres; but the latter tract was afterward re-ceded to the United States; for, notwithstanding there were treaty stipulations for the removal of the tribe to that tract, there were obstacles in the way of their speedy migration, resulting, finally, in their being permitted to remain in Wisconsin. Lands, to the amount of twelve townships, were granted them for their permanent homes, on the upper Wolf river, in what is now Shawano and Oconto counties — a portion, but a very small one, of what was once their extensive possessions. To this reservation they removed in October, 1852. Thus are the Menomonees, the only one of the original tribes of Wisconsin who, as a whole, have a local habitation within its limits. This tribe refused to join the Sioux in their outbreak in 1861, and several of their warriors served as volunteers in the United States army during the late civil war.

It is now over two centuries since the civilized world began to gain knowledge of the existence, in the far West, of a tribe of Indians known as the WINNEBAGOES—that is, men of the sea; pointing, possibly, to their early migration from the shores of the Mexican gulf, or the Pacific. The territory now included within the limits of Wisconsin, and so much of the State of Michigan as lies north of Green bay, Lake Michigan, the Straits of Mackinaw and Lake Huron were, in early times, inhabited by several tribes of the Algonquin race, forming a barrier to the Dakotas, or Sioux, who had advanced eastward to the Mississippi. But the Winnebagoes, although one of the tribes belonging to the family of the latter, had passed the great river, at some unknown period, and settled upon the head waters of Green bay. Here, this "sea-tribe," as early, it is believed, as 1634, was visited by an agent of France and a treaty concluded with them. The tribe afterward called themselves Hochungara, or Ochunkoraw, but were styled by the Sioux, Hotanke, or Sturgeon. Nothing more is heard of the Ouenibigoutz, or Winnebegouk (as the Winnebagoes were early called by the Jesuit missionaries, and the Algonquin tribes, meaning men from the fetid or salt water, translated by the French, Puants) for the next thirty-five years, although there is no doubt that the tribe had been visited meanwhile by adventurous Frenchmen, when on the second of December, 1669, some of that nation were noted at a Sac (Sauk or Saukis) village on Green bay, by Father Allouez.