disputed territory between the two shifted north and south as the fortunes of war favored the one or the other. In time, however, the Winnebagoes were driven well back within the present limits of Wisconsin, and were subsequently regarded as a tribe of that state. The territorial claims of these contestants were not finally settled until 1825. By a treaty negotiated at Prairie du Chien August 19 of that year between the United States, the Winnebagoes, the Sacs and Foxes, the Pottawatomies and other attending tribes, the boundaries of the Winnebago country were finally determined. Thus was peace established after a nearly continuous warfare of almost two centuries.

The records of the interior department at Washington show not less than twelve treaties negotiated between the United States and the Winnebagoes, during the period of fifty-one years from 1816 to 1867. The most important treaty was negotiated at Prairie du Chien, August 1, 1829, by which the Winnebagoes ceded to the United States certain lands in Illinois, of which Winnebago county west of Rock river was a part. The consideration was "eighteen thousand dollars in specie, annually, for the period of thirty years; which said sum is to be paid to said Indians at Prairie du Chien and Fort Winnebaygo, in proportion to the numbers residing within the most convenient distance of each place respectively; and it is also agreed, that the said United States shall deliver immediately to said Indians, as a present, thirty thousand dollars in goods; and it is further agreed, that three thousand pounds of tobacco and fifty barrels of salt, shall be annually delivered to the said Indians by the United States for the period of thirty years."

Caleb Atwater was one of the commissioners on the part of the United States government in negotiating this treaty. In a book in which he gives an account of the proceedings of this council he takes occasion to remark at considerable length on the beauty and force of Indian oratory as displayed on that occasion. He says their persons are the finest forms in the world. As he stands erect, with eyes flaming with ardor, and a mind laboring under an agony of thought, the Indian is a most impressive orator. When he speaks before bis assembled nation on some great national subject, he shows most forcibly that he feels an awful responsibility in what he attempts to advocate in behalf of his people. Mr. Atwater relates that he has seen a chief, when he approached the sale of his country in his speech, turn pale, tremble with fear, and sit down perfectly

exhausted in body from the effect. In council on such occasions, on either side of the speaker, sit all the chiefs and warriors of his nation; behind him, within sound of his voice, sit the women and children. His subject then becomes of the highest conceivable importance to himself and his entire nation. In such a position the character of his eloquence is easily conceived. It abounds with figures drawn from every object which nature presents to his eye. He thanks the Great Spirit that he has given them a day for holding their council without clouds or with few, as the case may be; that the several paths between their homes and the council fire have been unattended with danger; and hopes that during his absence the beasts may not destroy his corn, nor any bad bird be suffered to fly about the council with false stories. Thus far the speaker may have proceeded without enthusiasm; but should he touch upon the sale of his country, his whole soul is in every word, look and gesture. His eye flashes fire, he raises himself upon his feet, his body is thrown in every attitude, every muscle and nerve is strained to its utmost tension. His voice is clear, loud, distinct and commanding. He becomes, to use his own expressive phrase, a man. Then he recalls, with deep pathos and genuine eloquence, the time when his ancestors inhabited the entire continent, and how they have been driven by the white man from river to river, and from mountain to mountain, until they now have no home in which they may live in peace.

Article V. of the treaty at Prairie du Chien granted sections of land to certain Indian descendants of mixed blood who did not wish to migrate with their tribe. Thirty-six of these descendants were given one section of land each; two received two sections each; and three received two sections jointly. The total grant was forty-two sections, divided among forty-one grantees. These grants were unlocated or "floating" lands. From this fact came the word "float," by which these sections were popularly known. The grantees were allowed to select a section, and their choice was to be approved by the Indian commissioner and by the president of the United States. There were several of these "floats" in Rockford township. The east half of section fourteen and all of section thirteen west of Rock river, containing six hundred and thirty-seven acres, were located for Catharine Myott. Further reference to this tract will be made in a subsequent chapter. Section twenty-one was located for Therese Leciier, child of Mauh-nah-tee-see; section twenty

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two was selected for James Leciier; and section twenty-seven for Simon Leciier. These sections now comprise the most populous and wealthy portions of West Rockford, with its thousands of beautiful homes. There were other "floats" located in this immediate vicinity, some of which may be noted. Section eleven in Rockford township was claimed by Domitille, child of John Baptiste Pacquette. Besides the section above mentioned, Catharine Myott was given another section, of which the west half of section ten forms a part. One section in Winnebago county was given to Brigitte, the child of Hee-no-kau. These lands could not be sold without the consent of the president of the United States. The Indians were the wards of the nation, and the approval of the president was required by the treaty for their protection from dishonest speculators; but this precaution was not always successful. There is no evidence of local record that the transfer of Brigitte's claim by the original grantee has ever been approved by the president. A full list of these "floats" located in this county may be obtained from the Tract Book in the office of the circuit clerk.

Upon the close of the Black Hawk war, by the terms of the treaty negotiated by General Scott, September 15, 1832, the Winnebagoes ceded their lands lying east of the Mississippi, in Wisconsin, and accepted a reservation in Iowa, designated as the Neutral Ground. The Winnebagoes were loth to emigrate, and their removal was finally effected by the goverment in 1837. By another treaty, concluded November 1, 1837, they finally ceded all of their lands lying east of the Mississippi river. By the terms of this treaty they were to remove west of this river within eight months thereafter. Their reservation was subsequently changed several times, until in 1865 they were permanently located on their Omaha reservation in Nebraska. In 1890 there were twelve hundred and fifteen Winnebagoes on this reservation; and nearly an equal number were scattered over Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan, where they now live chiefly by agriculture, with a strong predilection for hunting.

The Winnebagoes were men of good stature and dignified bearing, with the characteristic black hair, black, glistening eyes, and red skins of the Indian race. They maintained the position of a tribe of independent feelings and national pride. The claim made for them of considerable mental capacity is

sustained by the cranial measurements made some years ago at the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia. In these examinations their crania were shown to have an average internal capacity of eighty-nine cubic inches, and a facial angle of seventy-nine degrees.

The so-called "Winnebago war" occurred in 1827, in the vicinity of Galena. It was more of a scare than a war, and has no local interest.

For many years after the Winnebagoes had removed from this section, small companies would occasionally return to visit their former hunting-ground. As Israel could not sing the songs of Zion in a strange land, so these red men of the forest could not forget their early home. The love of country and kindred is the same in subject or in king. It is a universal passion that makes the wide world kin. The Creator hath made of one blood all nations of men.

The Winnebago has given a name to a lake, a fort, a village and a county in Wisconsin, and to a village, a township and a county in Illinois. The Wisconsin Indian village is the present city of Beloit. Fort Winnebago is a historic spot. Its site is within two miles from the present city of Portage, Wisconsin. The fort was built in 1818-29, at the solicitation of John Jacob Astor, of the American Fur Company, to protect his trade from the Winnebagoes. Jefferson Davis was one of the first lieutenants in the original garrison.

THE

CHAPTER IV.

THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

HE Sauk or Black Hawk war directed the attention of eastern settlers to the Rock river valley. The history of this outbreak also has a local interest from the fact that this famous Indian warrior, in his flight from Rock Island, followed the general course of Rock river through this county, into Wisconsin territory, where he was defeated and captured.

Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah, or Black Hawk, was a chief of the allied tribes of the Sacs and Foxes. He was born at the Sac village, on the site of Rock Island, in 1767. About 1833 a book was published at Rock Island, which purported to be an autobiography of Black Hawk. Subsequent editions of this work have been published. Governor Ford, however, in his History of Illinois, places little value upon this work. He says it was dictated by Colonel Davenport, an old Indian trader, and Antoine Le Clair, a United States interpreter for the Sacs and Foxes, and edited and published by J. B. Patterson. Governor Ford believed that Black Hawk knew comparatively little of this alleged autobiography, although it has been recognized as authority by reliable writers upon this subject.

The Sacs, according to an Indian tradition, were first placed by the Great Spirit in the vicinity of Montreal. Their enemies conspired to drive them from their home to Mackinac and other points, until they built a village near Green Bay, on what is now Sac river, a name derived from this circumstance.

The Foxes were first found on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. From there they were driven to Detroit, thence to Mackinac, and from there to the river which bears their name, at a point near its entrance into Green Bay. The Foxes subsequently abandoned their village, and formed a treaty of alliance with the Sacs. Neither tribe was sufficiently strong to successfully meet its enemies. Hence they became one nation, and the bond of friendship was never broken. This allied tribe belonged to the Algonquin nation.