Prairie du Chiens is a beautiful meadow, about eight miles long by two
broad, situated at the confluence of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi;
it is backed with high bluffs, such as I have before described, verdant
two-thirds of the way up, and crowned with rocky summits. The bluffs,
as I must call them, for I know not what other name to give them, rise
very abruptly, often in a sugar-loaf form, from the flat lands, and have
a very striking appearance; as you look up to them, their peculiar
formation and vivid green sides, contrasting with their blue and grey
summits, give them the appearance of a succession of ramparts investing
the prairie. The fort at the prairie, which is named Fort Crawford, is,
like most other American outposts, a mere inclosure, intended to repel
the attacks of Indians; but it is large and commodious, and the quarters
of the officers are excellent; it is, moreover, built of stone, which is
not the case with Fort Winnebago, or Fort Howard at Green Bay. The
Upper Mississippi is here a beautiful clear blue stream, intersected
with verdant islands, and very different in appearance from the Lower
Mississippi, after it has been joined by the Missouri. The opposite
shore is composed of high cliffs, covered with timber, which, not only
in form, but in tint and colour, remind you very much of Glover's
landscapes of the mountainous parts of Scotland and Wales.
I made one or two excursions to examine the ancient mounds which are
scattered all over this district, and which have excited much
speculation as to their origin; some supposing them to have been
fortifications, others the burial-places of the Indians. That they have
lately been used by the Indians as burial-places there is no doubt; but
I suspect they were not originally raised for that purpose. A Mr
Taylor has written an article in one of the periodicals, stating his
opinion that they were the burial-places of chiefs; and to prove it, he
asserts that some of them are thrown up in imitation of the figure of
the animal which was the heraldic distinction of the chief whose remains
they contain, such as the beaver, elk, etcetera. He has given drawings
of some of them. That the Indians have their heraldic distinctions,
their _totems_, as they call them, I know to be a fact; as I have seen
the fur trader's books, containing the receipts of the chiefs, with
their crests drawn by themselves, and very correctly too; but it
required more imagination than I possess to make out the form of any
animal in the mounds. I should rather suppose the mounds to be the
remains of tenements, sometimes fortified, sometimes not, which were
formerly built of mud or earth, as is still the custom in the northern
portion of the Sioux country. Desertion and time have crumbled them
into these mounds, which are generally to be found in a commanding
situation, or in a string, as if constructed for mutual defence. On
Rock River there is a long line of wall, now below the surface, which
extends for a considerable distance, and is supposed to be the remains
of a city built by a former race, probably the Mexican, who long since
retreated before the northern race of Indians. I cannot recollect the
name which has been given to it. I had not time to visit this spot; but
an officer showed me some pieces of what they called the brick which
composes the wall. Brick it is not--no right angles have been
discovered, so far as I could learn; it appears rather as if a wall had
been raised of clay, and then exposed to the action of fire, as portions
of it are strongly vitrified, and others are merely hard clay. But
admitting my surmises to be correct, still there is evident proof that
this country was formerly peopled by a nation whose habits were very
different, and in all appearance more civilised, than those of the races
which were found here: and this is all that can be satisfactorily
sustained. As, however, it is well substantiated that a race similar to
the Mexican formerly existed on these prairie lands, the whole question
may perhaps be solved by the following extract from Irving's Conquest of
Florida:--
"The village of Onachili resembles most of the Indian villages of
Florida. The natives always endeavoured to build upon high ground, not
least to erect the house of their cacique, or chief, upon an eminence.
As the country was very level and high places seldom to be found, they
constructed artificial mounds of earth, capable of containing from ten
to twenty houses; there resided the chief, his family, and attendants.
At the foot of the hill was a square, according to the size of the
village, round which were the houses of the leaders and most
distinguished inhabitants."
I consider the Wisconsin territory as the finest portion of North
America, not only from its soil, but its climate. The air is pure, and
the winters, although severe, are dry and bracing; very different from,
and more healthy than, those of the Eastern States. At Prairie du Chien
every one dwelt upon the beauty of the winter, indeed they appeared to
prefer it to the other seasons. The country is, as I have described it
in my route from Green Bay, alternate prairie, oak openings, and forest;
and the same may be said of the other side of the Mississippi, now
distinguished as the district of Ioway. Limestone quarries abound;
indeed, the whole of this beautiful and fertile region appears as if
nature had so arranged it that man should have all difficulties cleared
from before him, and have but little to do but to take possession and
enjoy. There is no clearing of timber requisite; on the contrary, you
have just as much as you can desire, whether for use or ornament.
Prairies of fine rich grass, upon which cattle fatten in three or four
months, lay spread in every direction. The soil is so fertile that you
have but to turn it up to make it yield grain to any extent; and the
climate is healthy, at the same time that there is more than sufficient
sun in the summer and autumn to bring every crop to perfection. Land
carriage is hardly required from the numerous rivers and streams which
pour their waters from every direction into the Upper Mississippi. Add
to all this, that the Western lands possess an inexhaustible supply of
minerals, only a few feet under the surface of their rich soil--a
singular and wonderful provision, as, in general, where minerals are
found below, the soil above is usually arid and ungrateful. The mineral
country is to the south of the Wisconsin river--at least nothing has at
present been discovered north of it; but the northern part is still in
the possession of the Winnebago Indians, who are waiting for the
fulfilment of the treaty before they surrender it, and at present will
permit no white settler to enter it. It is said that the other portions
of the Wisconsin territory will come into the market this year; at
present, with the exception of the Fox river and Winnebago Lake
settlements, and that of Prairie du Chien, at the confluence of the two
rivers Wisconsin and Mississippi, there is hardly a log-house in the
whole district. The greatest annoyance at present in this western
country is the quantity and variety of snakes; it is hardly safe to land
upon some parts of the Wisconsin river banks, and they certainly offer a
great impediment to the excursions of geologist and botanist; you are
obliged to look right and left as you walk, and as for putting your hand
into a hole, you would be almost certain to receive a very unwished-for
and unpleasant shake to welcome you.
I ought here to explain an American law relative to what is termed
squatting, that is, taking possession of land belonging to government
and cultivating it: such was the custom of the back-woodsmen, and, for
want of this law, it often happened that after they had cultivated a
farm, the land would be applied for and purchased by some speculator,
who would forcibly eject the occupant, and take possession of the
improved property. A back-woodsman was not to be trifled with, and the
consequences very commonly were that the new proprietor was found some
fine morning with a rifle-bullet through his head. To prevent this
unjust spoliation on the one part, and summary revenge on the other, a
law has been passed, by which any person having taken possession of land
belonging to the States Government shall, as soon as the lands have been
surveyed and come into the market, have the right of purchasing the
quarter section, or one hundred and sixty acres round him. Many
thousands are settled in this way all over the new Western States, and
this pre-emption right is one of the few laws in Western America
strictly adhered to. A singular proof of this occurred the other day at
Galena. The government had made regulations with the diggers and
smelters on the government lands for a percentage on the lead raised, as
a government tax; and they erected a large stone building to warehouse
their portion, which was paid in lead. As soon as the government had
finished it, a man stepped forward and proved his right of pre-emption
on the land upon which the building was erected, and it was decided
against the government, although the land was actually government land!