REWARD OFFERED.
The day after the massacre messengers carried the news in all
directions to the various settlements in Illinois, southern Wisconsin,
northern Indiana and western Michigan. At every settlement block-houses
or stockades were built and the whites prepared to defend themselves
against attacks of the Indians. At Galena the people assembled on
May 28th and passed resolutions (among other things) deploring the
captivity of the Hall girls and declaring their obligations to obtain
the release of the captives. In Michigan along the lake shore, there
was great excitement, intensified by frequent rumors that the Indians
were coming.[22]
[22] Michigan newspapers, 1832.
Gen. Atkinson who was then at Ottawa offered the Indians a reward of
$2,000 in horses, goods or money, for the safe delivery of the girls,
as it was feared that if force were used the Indians would murder
the girls. In Wisconsin, Col. Dodge who had command at Blue Mounds
Fort (25 miles west of Madison, Wisconsin), immediately recruited an
army and made plans to get the girls. Lieutenant Edward Beouchard at
Blue Mounds and Henry Gratiot of Gratiot’s Grove (15 miles northeast
of Galena), who were friends of the Indians with whom they had great
influence, engaged in the search for the girls.
Gratiot went to Turtle Village (now Beloit, Wisconsin), where there
was a tribe of Winnebagoes with whom he had been on friendly terms and
who were supposed to be friends of the whites. However, the Indians
took him prisoner and he almost sacrificed his life in his endeavor
to obtain the release of the Hall girls. He succeeded, however, in
making his message known to the Indians, and arousing among them a
strong incentive to obtain the reward. While he was held as a prisoner,
an Indian chief to whom Gratiot had often given presents and shown
kindness, came to him and offered his services to aid in Gratiot’s
escape. Also Col. Gratiot was the government agent who paid the
Winnebagoes their annual allowance from the United States government,
which, no doubt, had some influence. The Indian took the Colonel to his
tent, and late in the night silently conducted him to the river and
gave him a canoe in which he paddled to safety. On his return home,
Gratiot reported that the captive girls were somewhere near the head of
Rock River in southern Wisconsin. He had gleaned that much information
from conversations among the Indians whose language he understood.
Not knowing that Col. Gratiot had visited Turtle Village, Gen. Anderson
sent by messenger to Blue Mounds, the following letter:
“Headquarters Right Wing West. Dept.,
Dixon’s Ferry, 27th May, 1832.
“Sir:
“In the attack of the Sac Indians on the settlements on a branch of Fox
River the 22nd inst., fifteen men, women, and children, were killed,
and two young women were taken prisoners. This heart-rending occurrence
should not only call forth our sympathies, but urge us to relieve the
survivors.
“You will therefore proceed to the Turtle Village or send someone of
confidence and prevail on the head chiefs and braves of the Winnebagoes
there to go over to the hostile Sacs and endeavor to ransom the
prisoners. Offer the Winnebagoes a large reward to effect the object:
$500 or $1000 for each.
“I expected to have heard from you before this.
Very respectfully your obt. sevt.,
H. ATKINSON,
Brig. Gen., U. S. Army.”
“Henry Gratiot, Esq.,
Indian Agent.”
When the dispatch reached the Mounds on May 28, Col. Gratiot who
had already visited Turtle Village had not returned, and Lieutenant
Beouchard who was then in command of the Port, opened the dispatch and
forwarded it to the Colonel. Also, Beouchard sent the substance of
the dispatch to Col. Dodge, who was then at Port Union, Col. Dodge’s
residence, near Dodgeville. Then Lieutenant Beouchard mounted his
horse and rode to a Winnebago encampment which was situated northeast
of Blue Mounds where Chief Wau-kon-kah was the head Indian. Beouchard
requested the chief to go to White Crow, Whirling Thunder and Spotted
Arm and inform them of the captivity of the Hall girls, and the reward
that had been offered for their release, instructing the Indians to
get the girls at any risk: by purchase, if possible; but by force, if
necessary. He assured the Indians that they would receive the reward
in case of success. The Indians promised to make the attempt.
May 28th, Col. Gratiot wrote a letter to Governor Porter, of Michigan,
telling of the Indian Creek Massacre and the captivity of the Hall
girls, and, among other things, said: “Compelled by our feelings and
relying on the justice of our country, we did not hesitate to promise
a few of my trusty Winnebagoes a reward if they would bring us those
ladies unhurt. We promised them the highest reward that could be
offered.” Therefore, it is evident that Gratiot had offered a reward
for the release of the girls before he received Gen. Anderson’s
dispatch.
On the day that Col. Gratiot returned from Turtle Village, he received
Gen. Anderson’s letter. On the same day he received further information
that the Winnebagoes had success in their endeavors to ransom the
unfortunate girls, and he immediately started for Blue Mounds, where he
arrived on June 2nd.