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 Recollections of Antoine Grignon 
 
 [From the Proceedings of the State Historical Society oi Wisi onsin lur 
 I 91 3, pages 1 10-r ^6"! 
 
 Madison 
 Published for the Society 
 
 1 9 14 
 
[Separate No. 156] 
 
 Recollections of Antoine Grignon 
 
 [From the Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 
 '9^3> pages 1 10-136] 
 
 Madison 
 
 Published for the Society 
 
 1914 
 
Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 Recollections of Antoine Grignon^ 
 
 I was bom at old Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, Jan, 9, 
 1828-. My father, Amable Grignon, who was of French and 
 Winnebago descent, was born at Portage, Wisconsin f my mother, 
 Archange La Bathe, was bom at Prairie du Chien of a French 
 father and Sioux mother, being a cousin of Wabashaw, the Sioux 
 chief whose village was located on the site of Winona, Minne- 
 sota.* She was a sister of Francois La Bathe, the noted trader, 
 long a trusted employee of the American Fur Company.^ 
 Amable Grignon acted as interpreter for the Federal Govern- 
 ment on various occasions, and was stationed for a number of 
 
 ' This aged pioneer died at Trempealeau, July 24, 1913. He was one 
 of the few survivors of the fur-trading regime in Wisconsin, and Ms 
 recollections were secured by his fellow townsman, Dr. Eben D. 
 Pierce. The transcriber writes, "I have written most of this nar- 
 rative just as Grignon told it to me. In some places I have not 
 used his exact words, but have tried to convey his meaning in lan- 
 guage of my own construction." The interview was written in the 
 shape it is here presented in December, 1912, and January, 1913. — Ed. 
 
 * The record of Antoine's baptism is preserved in the Prairie du 
 Chien Register. He was, in fact, born Jan. 9, 1829, and baptized Jan. 17 
 by Father F. V. Badin. His godfather was Frangois La Bathe, repre- 
 sented in his absence by Denys Cherrier, and his godmother was 
 Virginie Fisher. A copy of the Register, the original of which is in 
 Montreal, is in the Wisconsin Historical Library. — Ed. 
 
 ' For a brief sketch of this person, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xx, p. 157, 
 note 21. Antoine, in an interview in 1909 with Charles E. Brown of 
 the Society's staff, stated that in 1825 or 1826 his father had a trading 
 post on the site of the present Dakota, Minn. — Ed. 
 
 *For this chief, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xvii, p. 323, note 1; also Id, 
 XX, passim. — Ed. 
 
 •See note on this trader in Wis. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1906, 
 p. 252.— Ed. 
 
 [110] 
 
 
Recollections of Grignon 
 
 years at Fort Crawford as interpreter for its commandant, Col. 
 Zachary Taylor.® 
 
 There were three children in the family, Paul, Archange, and 
 myself, and although our parents had but a limited education, 
 they determined to give their children the best opportunities 
 within their reach. So I was taken to Col. Zachary Taylor, 
 who permitted me to attend the school conducted in the garrison, 
 thus laying the foundation for an education. 
 
 Col. Zachary Taylor was a very active man, alert, rough, and 
 quick, but the soldiers thought a great deal of him, and my 
 father admired him above all men. He was kind to those in need 
 and did what he could for the betterment of the inhabitants of 
 Prairie du Chien in my day. I '11 never forget his negro servant, 
 whose skin was as black as tar; I first saw him when I was a 
 youngster some seven years old, and was nearly frightened out 
 of my wits, and ran home as fast as my trembling limbs could 
 carry me. My ! but I was afraid of that black man, as I called 
 him. He used to take delight in frightening me when he found 
 how afraid I was of him. 
 
 I next went for two terms to a private school conducted by a 
 Mr. Cady. [Cadle],^ then John Haney became my teacher. There 
 were no public schools in that day at Prairie du Chien, and the 
 parents of the pupils in the private schools paid the teacher a 
 certain amount each month for their instruction. I remember, 
 too, my French teacher, a Mr. Gibault, who also taught English ; 
 and a lady by the name of Mrs. Crosby who held school in her 
 home. 
 
 When I was a little past twelve years of age I went to school 
 to Rev. Joseph Cretin, a Catholic clergyman, who afterwards 
 
 •Col. Zachary Taylor came to Prairie du Chien in 1829 as com-- 
 mandant of Fort Crawford; the same year he determined to remove 
 the fort to higher ground, and began the new fort, finished in 1831. 
 He continued in command until 1836.; — Ed. 
 
 ^Rev. Richard Cadle had been in charge from 1827 to 1836 of an 
 Episcopal mission school at Green Bay (see Wis. Hist. Colls., xir, . 
 passim). The latter year he resigned, and was soon after appointed, 
 chaplain at Fort Crawford where he remained until 1841. He was. 
 probably the teacher to whom the writer refers. — Ed. 
 
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Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 became bishop of St. Paul.^ By the time I was fifteen years of 
 age I had a fair education in the common branches of English* 
 and was ready to go out into the world better equipped than 
 most French Canadian boys of my time. 
 
 Early Prairie du Chien 
 
 Prairie du Chien was a small village at that time ; the French 
 lived on the west side of a slough near the river, and the 
 American families lived on the east side of the slough. The 
 French were mostly agriculturists with a number of trappers 
 and traders among them as well as voyageurs. Considerable stock 
 was raised by the farmers in the vicinity of the village, and no 
 one ever thought of building a fence. They just let the stock 
 run at large. Some corn was raised ; I don 't remember ever 
 seeing dent corn at that time, it was all flint corn. 
 
 The French were a very hospitable people enjoying life in a 
 happy, care-free manner. They were fond of dancing and feast- 
 ing — in fact they were a merry set of people. They would gather 
 at chosen homes to have their festivities and the young folks 
 would dance and play games while the older ones joined in card- 
 playing or story-telling, swapping yarns, or perhaps singing 
 some of the lively songs of their language. Drinking was also 
 indulged in, though not as a usual thing to excess, for the 
 merrymakers were hilarious enough without the aid of the 
 flowing bowl. As a class these people were very accommodat- 
 ing, and would do a kindness to one in need as readily as they 
 Avould turn out to a feast. 
 
 * Joseph Cretin was born in 1800 in France, came to America as a 
 missionary priest, being stationed in 1839 at Dubuque. There in 1844 
 lie began a school for Winnebago children, which was next year dis- 
 continued by the governor of Iowa. Grignon does not say the school he 
 attended was at Prairie du Chien, and it is possible he went to the 
 mission school at Dubuque. Cretin continued at that place until the 
 see of St. Paul (Minn.) was erected (1850), whose first bishop he be- 
 came, dying there Feb. 22, 1857. — Ed. 
 
 » Grignon told C. E. Brown in the interview referred to, ante, note 
 3, that he attended for a time the mission school at Yellow River, Iowa, 
 of which Rev. David Lowry had charge. For an account of this school, 
 see Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 405. — Ed. 
 
 [112] 
 
Recollections of Grignon 
 
 Beginnings of Trempealeau 
 
 When I was fifteen years old I went to work for the Ameri- 
 can Fur Company under a sub-agent named Alexis P. Bailly of 
 Wabasha, Minnesota^". I was sent out to Turkey River, Iowa. 
 We Avent by wagon fifty miles southwest of Prairie du Chien, 
 where a store building was erected and trade opened among the 
 Winnebago. A few months later I came back to Prairie du 
 Chien, and went by the steamboat "Otter" up the Mississippi 
 to Trempealeau which was then known as Reed's Landing or 
 Reed's Town. James Reed had married my widowed mother 
 and I visited her at his home, a large log house near the river.^^ 
 
 There were but a few families in Reed's Town, John B. 
 Doville^- and family were living there. He had been, conducting 
 a wood yard over on the island opposite Trempealeau for a few 
 years, having been sent in 1838 by Francois La Bathe to occupy 
 the island and furnish cord-wood for the steamboats passing 
 up and down the river. Joseph Reed, a French Canadian, ac- 
 companied him. 
 
 The real object in holding the island was to secure the fur- 
 trade, and to keep Wabashaw 's band of Sioux from giving their 
 trade to rival companies. 
 
 Doville was quite an agriculturist; he cultivated the land 
 formerly broken by Louis Stram at the Swiss mission,^^ and also 
 broke up more on the flat near where the city park is now lo- 
 cated. He sowed oats, wheat, flax-seed, potatoes, and beans. 
 He has the honor, I think, of being the first farmer in Trem- 
 pealeau County. Stram broke the first land, but did not sow 
 any seed except for garden purposes. 
 
 '"For a sketch of this trader, whose name was frequently anglicized 
 into Bailey, see Id, xx, p. 197, note 55. — Ed. 
 
 " See an account of the founding of Trempealeau in Wis. Hist. Soc. 
 Proceedings, 1906, pp. 246-255. — Ed. 
 
 "John B. Doville (spoken of as James Douville in IMd, p. 252) was 
 a son-in-law of James Reed, and the first permanent settler of Trem- 
 pealeau. His companion, Joseph (also called Antoine) Reed, was a 
 French Canadian, not related to James Reed. — Ed. 
 
 " For an account of this mission, see Wis. Hist. Colls., x, pp. 367, 
 506, 507; Proceedings, 1906, pp. 251, 252. 
 
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Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 Alexander Chenevert^* was living upon the site that after- 
 wards became the old Grant place. Farther up the river near 
 Fred Ford's present residence, lived the Bunnells — WiUard 
 and Lafayette. Willard lived here until 1848, when he moved 
 across into Minnesota. Lafayette Bunnell had moved to 
 Minnesota a couple of years before his brother Willard.^^ There 
 was another Frenchman here at that time by the name of Michel 
 Goulet who chopped wood for Reed, and worked at odd jobs 
 whenever opportunity offered. He did not remain long, a few 
 years perhaps, and then went farther north.^^ 
 
 I worked for Mr. Reed, who was farmer for Wabashaw's band 
 of Sioux at Winona, and as he could get home only occasionally 
 I helped look after his stock, and built some pole fences for him 
 in the fall of 1843, on what afterwards became the Van Engen 
 farm. This was the first fence built in the county. Reed had 
 considerable stock, several head of cattle, a bunch of ponies, and 
 some blooded horses. They grazed on' the hills, and out on 
 Trempealeau Prairie and required little attention summer or 
 winter, although we always put up some wild hay for them in 
 case deep snow should make the grazing difficult. Cattle suf- 
 
 " According to the Prairie du Chien Register, Alexander Chenever, 
 son of FranQois Chenever and Marie Louise Giard was born at that 
 place Jan. 10, 1827, and baptized Aug. 16 of the same year. He mar- 
 ried a daughter of James Reed. — Ed. 
 
 "Willard B. Bunnell was born in 1814 at Homer, N. Y. He ran 
 away and sailed upon the Great Lakes as pilot until 1832, when he 
 settled at Detroit and there married, in 1837, Matilda Desnoyer. Hav- 
 ing entered the fur-trade, he spent the winter of 1841-42 at the site 
 of Escanaba, Mich.; then removed "West, arriving in Trempealeau, 
 July, 1842. In 1848 he made arrangements to remove to the Minne- 
 sota side of the river, where he occupied in 1849, by permission of the 
 chief, Wabashaw, the site of the village of Homer. There he died in 
 1861. His brother, Lafayette Houghton, was born in 1824, removed to 
 Detroit in 1832, and accompanied his brother to Wisconsin in 1841-42. 
 He enlisted in the Mexican War, sought for gold in California, and 
 after studying medicine, enlisted as surgeon of the 36th Wisconsin 
 Infantry, and in 1865 served in the same capacity in the 1st Minne- 
 sota Battalion. He was the historian of Winona, Minn., where he 
 died in 1903.— Ed. 
 
 "For an account of Goulet and his tragic death, see L. H. Bunnell, 
 Winona and its Environs (Winona, Minn., 1897), p. 210. — Ed. 
 
 [114] 
 
Recollections of Grlgnon 
 
 fered more during the deep snow than the horses, who eould 
 more easily paw the snow away. 
 
 In 1844 a Frenchman, Assalin, came to Eeed's Town. He 
 was a carpenter by trade and manufactured for Mr. Reed the 
 first wagon in the county, that is, he made the woodwork, but 
 the iron had to be shipped up from Prairie du Chien. Besides 
 carpenter work and wagon-making Assalin manufactured sleds 
 and French trains. 
 
 In speaking of these early French settlers I must not forget 
 to mention Peter Rousseau who helped Reed build his house. 
 Rousseau was an expert with a broad-ax and hewed the logs 
 for Reed's house. This had two stories, was large and roomy, 
 and served well its purpose as an old-fashioned backwoods inn. 
 Reed kept a bar, and I have often seen travelers sleeping on 
 the floor roUed up in their blankets. Beds were a luxury seldom 
 indulged in at that period. Around the old-fashioned fireplace 
 in Reed's inn was often gathered a strange and varied company 
 —traders, surveyors, trappers, and hunters, and a few blanketed 
 Indians. As they sat smoking by the blazing fire in the evening, 
 you might have heard stories of adventure that would thrill 
 the heart of the dullest listener. 
 
 About the same year, 1844, there came to Trempealeau (Reed's 
 Town) a Frenchman by the name of Antoine La Terreur, who 
 was a cabinet-maker. He manufactured chairs, bureaus, chests, 
 and other furniture, and was the first in our county to do work 
 of that kind. Some of the chairs he manufactured are still, or 
 were a few years ago, in the possession of La Vigne in Cedar 
 Valley, Minnesota. 
 
 In 1845, Michel Bebault came here and hired out as a wood- 
 chopper over on the island at the steamboat wood yard. He 
 was about the best wood-chopper I ever saw at work. Three 
 years larter Leander Bebault and John La Vigne^' came with 
 their families to settle in Trempealeau. La Vigne bought a little 
 piece of land up in the tamarack, but had not lived there long 
 when he decided to move across the river to Minnesota, where 
 he settled in Cedar Valley. 
 
 " Jean Baptiste Lavigne was an early settler of Green Bay, see Wis 
 Hist Colls., XX, p. 159, note 22. Probably the Trempealeau settler was 
 his son. Louis Bibeau (Bebault) was an early Illinois trader, pos- 
 sibly the progenitor of these pioneers of Trempealeau.— Ed. 
 
 [115] 
 
Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 Hardships of Mail-Carriers 
 
 Joseph Reed became a mail-carrier, and I think it worth while 
 to relate some of the hardships he underwent in performing his 
 duty. His route lay along the Mississippi from Prairie du 
 Chien to Wabashaw's village at Winona. At the latter place 
 he met the mail-carrier from Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, and 
 after exchanging mails the two returned to their respective 
 starting-points. The trip was made by canoe in sunmier, and 
 by French train on the river-ice in winter, and by pony with 
 saddle-bags at times when neither canoe nor French train could 
 be used. 
 
 One year, in the latter part of winter, early in March I think, 
 Joseph Reed started from Prairie du Chien with the government 
 mail bound for Winona. When he arrived the carrier from St. 
 Paul was not there. It was mild weather, so Reed concluded to 
 proceed on his journey until he met his partner from up river. 
 By the time he reached Holmes's Landing," the weather had 
 grown considerably warmer, and the ice showed signs of break- 
 ing up. Still he pushed on, and urging his pony over the ice, 
 sped away towards the north. On nearing Minneiska^^ he heard 
 the ice begin to give way — groan, crack, and move; looking 
 about he saw that an island in the river offered his only place of 
 escape from drowning, as the ice was fast breaking up. He 
 made his way thither, and arriving in safety started to explore 
 his new quarters. He had gone but a short distance when he 
 ran across the St. Paul mail-carrier who had likewise made the 
 island in safety. By this time the ice in the river was moving 
 fast, and before another day had nearly cleared. So there they 
 were with little provision, shut off from the mainland by a wide 
 channel. 
 
 After their provisions gave out, they subsisted on rose-apples ; 
 they hallooed in vain for help, but it was a sparsely-settled 
 
 " Holmes's Landing was near the site of the present Fountain City, 
 Buffalo County, and was settled in 1839 by Thomas A. Holmes, pre- 
 viously of Milwaukee and Rock County. It was a well-known port of 
 call on the upper Mississippi. — Ed. 
 
 "Minneiska is on the Minnesota side, in the southeastern angle of 
 Wabasha County. — Ed. 
 
 [116 1 
 
Recollections of Grignon 
 
 region at that time and no one heard them. After living on the 
 island nearly two weeks, they were rescued by a party of Sioux 
 who were coming down the river in canoes. The Sioux took 
 the two mail-carriers into their canoes and left them at Holmes's 
 Landing where after two weeks of recuperation they resumed 
 their routes. They were weak, emaciated, and nearly starved to 
 death. 
 
 Dodge's Home Guards 
 
 I remained in Trempealeau until the year before the Mexican 
 War broke out, when I returned to Prairie du Chien and went 
 to work in a blacksmith shop. When war with Mexico was de- 
 clared, I enlisted in Governor Dodge's regiment of home guards 
 serving therein for a year. We did not go out of the State, but 
 were held m readiness in ease we should be needed.^" While 
 m service at Prairie du Chien during the winter of 1846-47, 
 a report came to our commander that the Indians were massa' 
 cring the whites in the locality where Vernon County now is. 
 We were ordered out and with great difiSculty marched up 
 through the deep snow to the supposed scene of murder. When 
 we arrived we found the report was false; the whites had not 
 been distui'bed in the least, and no Indians had been seen ii 
 that region for a number of weeks. So we returned inglori 
 ously to our quarters at Prairie du Chien. 
 
 In the Fur-Trade 
 
 After getting my discharge I went to work as clerk for the 
 American Fur Company in their store at Prairie du Chien 
 under B. N. Brisbois.-^^ I remained in their employ until 
 June, 1849, when I decided to go north and took the steamboat, 
 ''Lady Franklin" for St. Paul. 
 
 I soon secured employment at Fort Snelling, helping to get 
 up hay for the cavalry stationed there at the time. I drove 
 
 ^0 Grignon later drew a pension as a Mexican War veteran.— Ed. 
 ' See the "Recollections" of this pioneer in Wis. Hist. Colls., ix. pp. 
 ^82—302. — Ed. 
 
 [117] 
 
 m 
 
Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 team and helped stack for a few weeks, when a man from St. 
 Paul came and asked if I would run a boarding-house and bar 
 for him at that place. I complied with his request, and worked 
 for him for two months; at the end of this time I went down 
 the river in one of A. P. Bailly's boats as far as Wabasha, 
 where I went to Avork for Bailly. He was postmaster, and I 
 carried the mail to and from the boats and also worked in the 
 store as clerk. While there I was appointed deputy sheriff, 
 and served papers on a man who was accused of stealing goods 
 from my employer. I had a search warrant and went and looked 
 over the man's house, but found none of the stolen goods in his 
 possession. 
 
 In the winter of 1849 Bailly fixed me up a big load of goods 
 on a French train, with a pony to haul it down the river ; I took 
 my departure for the site of Fountain City, where there was a 
 large camp of Sioux. I traded among them until the spring of 
 1850, when I loaded my goods in a canoe and made my way 
 down the river and through the sloughs to the present site of 
 Marshland, where there was also a Sioux camp. I sold my 
 pony and train to the Indians and bought a canoe of them, and 
 traded with them for a number of weeks. They had been trap- 
 ping up Trempealeau River, and had a fine lot of beaver, 
 otter, marten, mink, and muskrat pelts. I had for my store 
 a Sioux hut made out of buffalo hides — as comfortable as one 
 could wish. After the spring hunting and trapping was over 
 I returned to Wabasha, but not until I had an opportunity of 
 attending a medicine dance at Minneowah, not far above the 
 present town of Homer, Minnesota. 
 
 Winnebago Removal 
 
 In the early fifties the Winnebago were removed to Long 
 Prairie, Minnesota. H. M. Rice^^ had charge of their removal 
 
 " In 1846, a few "Winnebago chiefs visiting in V/ashington were in« 
 duced to sign a treaty whereby their tribe was to remove to a reserva- 
 tion in Minnesota Territory, north of St. Peter's [Minnesota] River 
 and west of the Mississippi. The members of the tribe as a whole 
 repudiated the treaty; nevertheless, in 1849 attempts were made to 
 Induce them to remove thither. They disliked the country, and were 
 
 [ 118 ] 
 
Recollections of Grignon 
 
 and secured my services to help him. We took the steamboat 
 "Yankee" from St. Paul, and on the way down the river Kiee 
 asked me to accompany him on deck from which vantage point 
 he thoiight we could locate the Indian camps near the river to 
 good advantage. So we sat out on deck looking over the country 
 for Indian camps. Just below Winona I saw smoke, and located 
 it about where Sugar Loaf is at present. We kept a sharp look- 
 out on the smoke, and when the boat rounded a bend we saw 
 it was an Indian camp as I had predicted. 
 
 At Minneowah the boat stopped and let me off and I made 
 my way as best I could through thickets along the bluffs to the 
 camp which proved to be one of Winnebago. I told the Indians 
 my mission and they at once began breaking camp and loading 
 their canoes. When they were ready, I accompanied them to 
 Trempealeau where they remained all night. Mr. Rice, S. B. 
 Lowry, and David Olmstead^^ who were working in the interests 
 of the government in removing the Winnebago to the reserva- 
 tion, stayed all night with Mr. Reed, and next, morning we all 
 went to La Crosse, taking our band of Indians with us. A 
 few miles above La Crosse we located another Indian camp on 
 French Island and took them also with us to La Crosse. There 
 the Indians were loaded on barges and into boats and taken by 
 steamboat to St. Paul, whence they were carried overland by 
 wagons to Long Prairie, Minnesota, the new home. 
 
 afraid of the neighboring Sioux, and gradually returned in small 
 bands to their old homes along the Mississippi and Wisconsin. Peri- 
 odically they were gathered up and removed. It was probably one 
 of these later assemblages which Grignon here describes. 
 
 H. M. Rice (1816-94) came from Vermont to Minnesota in 1839, 
 where he engaged in the fur-trade. In 1853-57 he was territorial dele- 
 gate, and later first senator from the new state (1858-63). — Ed. 
 
 * Syvanus B. Lowry and David Olmstead were both American Indian 
 traders. The former had a post near the present Brockway, Minn.; 
 was adjutant-general of the territory in 1853; laid out the town of 
 St. Cloud, and died there in 1861. Olmstead (1822-61) came from 
 Vermont to establish a trading post at Long Prairie; was president 
 of the first territorial legislature, and first mayor of St. Paul. — Ed. 
 
 [119] 
 
Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 Hudson Bay Company 
 
 A few months after the removal of the Indians I went to the 
 office of the Hudson Bay Company in St. Paul and told one 
 of the head officers I intended to go to Long Prairie,^* and asked 
 him if there was a chance to work for his company there. He 
 asked me my name and when I told him, he looked over some 
 papers lying on a desk and returned to where I stood saying, 
 "Yes, Mr. Grignon, you can have employment at once. There 
 will be a place for you in our store at Long Prairie." 
 The Hudson Bay Company had a large store at that place, 
 where they kept a line of Indian supplies of the very best 
 materiad. Their blankets made of all wool were the best I ever 
 saw. There was no shoddy clothing in their store, and it was 
 a satisfaction to work for them. We bought all kinds of fur 
 from the Indians and trappers, and I remember one year taking 
 in 700 raccoon skins, besides marten, mink, fox, and muskrat 
 pelts. 
 
 Early St. Paul 
 
 It was a sight to see St. Paul at that time. It was a trading 
 post, and had the largest warehouses of any in the West, be- 
 cause more fur was brought there for shipment. From St. Paul 
 the peltry was shipped by boat to points down river. St. Louis 
 was a big shipping centre for fur companies and much of the 
 northern fur went there to be reshipped. 
 
 The Hudson Bay Company used two-wheel carts to carry 
 their supplies out into the country, and to bring in the bundles 
 or bales of furs. You could see long lines of carts coming and 
 going in the St. Paul streets at any time. These carts had two 
 high solid wheels nearly as tall as a person's head; then there 
 was a large strongly-constructed box between the wheels. These 
 carts were drawn by an ox, a buffalo, or a horse, and it is sur- 
 prising what a load one animal could draw. These cart-trains 
 
 " The Long Prairie agency seems to have been near the present 
 town of that name, in Todd County, Minn. — Ed. 
 
 [120] 
 
Recollections of Grignon 
 
 were the only ones running in and out of St. Paul when I first 
 visited there — what a change has taken place since then ! 
 
 Trading at Blue Earth 
 
 In 1854, I returned to Trempealeau and remained at home 
 with my family until 1856. In the latter year Nathan Myrick, 
 the pioneer settler of La Crosse/^ wrote me a letter asking me 
 to take charge as interpreter of his store at Blue Earth, Minne- 
 sota. Accordingly I Avent to Blue Earth and began work for 
 Myrick. The Winnebago had meanwhile been removed from 
 Long Prairie to the Blue Earth ageney,^® and Myrick opened 
 a store at the latter place to secure their trade. Myrick told 
 me to trust all Indians that were honest, but to look out for the 
 rascals, and said, ''you have traded with them a long time and 
 know them well and so you know the good ones from the bad 
 ones." I trusted them to the amount of over $3,000, and when 
 they received their government annuity I got all the money 
 they owed me, or very nearly all; I think 1 lost less than ten 
 dollars in dealing with them. 
 
 I remained at Blue Earth until winter and then returned 
 home to Trempealeau. I did not like the Prairie country and 
 I wanted to be with my family, although Myrick offered to fix 
 up a place where my family could stay at Blue Earth. 
 
 In 1850, I married Mary Christine de La Ronde, a girl from 
 Portage, Wisconsin, whose father is well known to Wisconsin 
 history, and whose narrative occurs in the Collections of the 
 Wisconsin Historical Society.^'' Fourteen children were born 
 
 "Nathan Myrick (1822-1903) founder of La Crosse, came there in 
 1841 from Westport, N. Y. In 1848 he sold out his landed interests 
 and removed to St. Paul, but continued to trade at several places on the 
 Mississippi. He celebrated his golden wedding, 1893, in St. Paul, and 
 died there ten years later. — Ed. 
 
 ^* In 1855, the Winnebago sold their Long Prairie reservation to the 
 government and were assigned to one in Blue Earth County, Minn., 
 which they regained until removed (1863) to a reservation in 
 Nebraska. — "PId. 
 
 "For tnis narrative, see vol. vii, pp. 345-365; his obituary is in Id,. 
 ix, p. 431. According to an article in the Trempealeau Herald, Dec.. 
 17, 1909, Mary Christine de La Ronde Grignon was born at Portage,. 
 
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Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 to us, six of whom are still living, three boys and three girls.^' 
 The girls when they were young ladies were noted in this part 
 of the country for their singing; one of them became a school 
 teacher and was very successful in her work. 
 
 An Indian Census 
 
 In 1881 Major Halleek came from Washington, D, C, to 
 enumerate the Winnebago, and wrote for me to assist him in the 
 work.^® We went to Eland Junction and enumerated Big 
 Black Hawk's band,"" and then proceeded to Black River Falls; 
 after completing the work there, we went to Portage and Kil- 
 bourn, and wherever we could locate a camp of this tribe. Next 
 spring I Avent with Major Halleek to Stevens Point to make a 
 payment to the Indians and was with him a year, and when- 
 ever a payment was made I helped to locate and get the names 
 of the Indians on the pay-roll. I also helped survey the land 
 above Black River Falls, and assisted in locating the Indians 
 on their homesteads. I have acted as interpreter on various 
 occasions for the Federal Government, and on matters of busi- 
 ness have helped the Indians whenever I could. I have lived 
 
 Christmas day, 1835, married at Long Prairie, Feb. 4, 1851, and died 
 at Trempealeau, Dec. 8, 1909. She was at the time of her death one 
 of the oldest settlers of the town. — Ed. 
 
 ^ The newspaper article mentioned in the preceding note gives the 
 names of these children as follows: Ralph J. Grignon, of St. Paul; 
 Alexander Grignon, of Oshkosh; Guy A. Grignon, of Glen Flora, Wis.; 
 Mrs. Mary Jebb, of Paynesville, IMinn. ; Mrs. Camilla Dederich, of San- 
 dusky, Wis.; Mrs. Nettie Coyle, of Trempealeau. — Ed. 
 
 *Jan. 18, 1881, Congress passed an "Act for the relief of the Wis- 
 consin Winnebago," one of the provisions of which was that a com- 
 plete census of the members of that tribe, scattered throughout the 
 northern woods, should be taken, and their share of the Winnebago 
 trust funds allotted to them; also that they should have titles to their 
 lands assigned them in perpetuity. Maj. Walter F. Halleek, a retired 
 army officer, was appointed special agent to take this census. Grignon 
 appears to have been in his employ until 1884, when Halleek retired 
 from the agency. Transcripts of several letters from Halleek to 
 Grignon, showing appreciation of the latter's services, are in the So- 
 ciety's Library. — Ed. 
 
 •"For an account of this chief, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 430. — ^Eo. 
 
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Recollections of Grignon 
 
 here most of the time since I quit work for Myrick, and have 
 always made my home in Trempealeau, being away only on 
 business for short intervals. I live in the same house that I 
 bought in 1857. 
 
 A Wisconsin Pioneer 
 
 I would like to say a word about James Reed. He was a 
 remarkable man for his time, when just such a man was needed. 
 I first saw Reed in Prairie du Chien when I was a boy and he 
 was keeping tavern there. He was not a tall man, medium in 
 height but thick-set, with a deep chest. He had bluish-gray 
 eyes and a sandy or florid complexion. He was a good shot, one 
 of the best I ever saw, and the Indians far and wide were aware 
 of his skill with the rifle. I have seen him kill eleven prairie 
 chicken in twelve shots, in the trees on the island across from 
 Trempealeau. He was several rods away from the game when 
 he shot. I have also seen him shoot the head from a partridge 
 at a good distance. 
 
 One day a merchant from Rock Island, Illinois, who had 
 advanced supplies to some lumbermen at Black River Falls, 
 called at Reed's inn and asked the way to the Falls. Reed in- 
 quired if the man intended to go alone, and he answered he did. 
 "You will find it difficult to make your way," replied the old 
 hunter, "there are no roads and the trails are unmarked and 
 hard to find unless you are acquainted with the country." The 
 man said he had a compass and thought he could find his way 
 all right. He remained all night, and in the morning Reed and 
 I accompanied him on ponies to Beaver Creek, and saw him 
 safely across the stream before we took our departure for home. 
 One afternoon a week later the man came crawling into Reed's 
 inn almost exhausted. He had lost his way and wandered about 
 in the neighborhood of Decorah's Peak for a number of days 
 subsisting on roots and berries. He was scratched about the 
 face and hands, his clothing was in shreds, and when he reached 
 Trempealeau Prairie, he was so exhausted that he had to crawl 
 for three or four miles on his hands and knees. He remained 
 at Reed's cabin about two weeks and then went home without 
 attempting to visit the lumbermen at Black River Falls. 
 
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 Reed could speak several Indian dialects and was as well 
 acquainted with. Indian character as any man I ever knew. 
 He was of a kind disposition and generailly used mild 
 measures in his dealings Avith the Indians ; but when diplomacy 
 failed, he was a different man and his temper once aroused, he 
 feared nothing, and could bring his rifle into play as handily 
 as any backwoodsman I ever saw. He was noted for his fear- 
 lessness as well as for his expert marksmanship. 
 
 Fur-trading Customs 
 
 In looking back over the departed years, I can see Prairie du 
 Chien as it was when I played along its streets as a boy. The 
 strange, wild life of the hunters, traders, and trappers thrilled 
 me, and I was often on hand to see the fleets of canoes from 
 the northland with their throng of painted Indians or, to see 
 the voyageurs arrive with their bateaux of furs. Indians came 
 from far and near to trade at Prairie du Cliien, which was in 
 reality a big post with stores and warehouses belonging prin- 
 cipally to the American Fur Company. From the north, the 
 region along JMinnesota and Chippewa Rivers, and the upper 
 Mississippi, came the Sioux, Winnebago, Chippewa, and Me- 
 nominee. Down the Wisconsin came bands of Indians belong- 
 ing to different tribes. The Iowa, Sauk, and Foxes came from 
 the river below Prairie du Chien. The Indians traveled mostly 
 by river in canoes, but a few came on ponies, afoot, and horse- 
 back from the interior. 
 
 When the Indians came down or up the river, they were 
 painted in their most gaudy colors, the bucks using red, yellow, 
 and green to decorate their faces, while the squaws used ver- 
 milion, and painted a round spot of this color on each cheek and 
 a streak down the middle of their hair where it was parted. 
 The canoes used in these journeys were both the dugout and 
 the birch bark, and a fleet usually consisted of a dozen or fifteen 
 boats, but I have seen as many as forty in one flotilla. The 
 Indians brought with them furs, wild game, and pemmican made 
 out of clean, fat venison pounded to a pulp, or of buffalo meat 
 treated in the same manner. They also brought venison and 
 buffalo meat that had been jerked, scorched, and smoked. They 
 
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Recollections of Grignon 
 
 likewise brought baskets, mats, wild honey, maple sugar, berries 
 in season, and dried lotus-root, which when cooked tasted like 
 a potato. The Indians also made brooms out of birch, hickory, 
 or ash wood. With these commodities they bought or secured in 
 barter flour, pork, coffee, tobacco, blankets, hatchets, knives, 
 dress-goods, ribbons, ammunition, and trinkets of many kinds. 
 I must not forget to mention bows and arrows which the Indians 
 made and sold to the whites, especially to the young boys ; they 
 also sold buckskin and moccasins. These bands of Indians 
 would remain a week or two to trade at Prairie du Chien and 
 the surrounding neighborhood. While there they would feast 
 and dance and enjoy life that had a tinge of civilization in it. 
 You could hear the tum-tum beating all night when a dance was 
 in progress, and mingled with the crude song and the yell of 
 the dancers, it made night hideous; silence was a luxury on 
 nights of the Indian dance. 
 
 It was customary for the fur-trader to leave for the Indian 
 country sometime during September. Some, who had shorter 
 distances to travel left later, along in October. They took their 
 supplies in large canoes, in barges, and in ' ' a-la-cordelle ' '. The 
 barges were poled with long poles, while the cordelles were 
 drawn with ropes from shore, although oars were also employed. 
 The canoes were paddled by the French voyageurs, who some- 
 times used oars in the swift cross currents. The traders took 
 along as supplies hatchets, knives, ammunition/ (powder and 
 lead), blankets, and woolen dress-goods, calico, and trinkets, such 
 as beads, ribbons, and silver ornaments of large plates and round 
 and square silver pieces. The squaws used the latter on their 
 dresses, while the bucks were fond of silver for decorating 
 their hair. 
 
 Among Indian goods must be included traps for catching 
 animals, and, last but not least, rum. A few kegs or barrels of 
 rum would often get the trader more furs than any of his other 
 goods. As a general thing the Indian would give more for rum 
 or whisky than for anything else ; he would even sell his squaw 
 for fire-water. However, the trader was usually shrewd in 
 dealing out liquor, and would give the Indian but a small 
 amount. A reckless trader often did a great deal of damage 
 by selling quantities of liquor to the Indians. When a crowd 
 of them got drunk, fighting followed and shooting affrays. 
 
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 Trouble with the whites could usually be traced to over-indul- 
 gence in fire-water. 
 
 The trader penetrated to the remote parts of the country in 
 quest of furs, and dispersed his trappers into the interior ; then 
 at his trading quarters he would deal with the Indians and col- 
 lect furs during the fall, winter, and spring. Then when the 
 spring trapping was over, with his boats loaded with fur, he 
 would depart for the fur company's headquarters. Voyageurs 
 were paid by the year and furnished provisions for the season ; 
 these consisted of hulled corn, peas (for soup), and hardtack, 
 with plenty of salt and pepper, but no tea or coffee. They also 
 iiad salt pork in small quantities. The foreman or boss of the 
 trading expedition always had a drinking cabinet and carried 
 the best of rum and whisky. He kept this under lock and key 
 and each day would give his men a few drinks, and on rare 
 occasions after a hard day's work would allow them an extra 
 drink to keep up their spirits or to show them their work was 
 rewarded. 
 
 After the spring trapping was over the trader would pack his 
 furs and set out for the trading post. On these return jour- 
 neys, the voyageurs were a merry set. They would sing their 
 French songs by the hour, keeping time with their paddles, thus 
 making the journey homeward a pleasant one. How often have 
 I heard the music of these boatmen's songs float out over the 
 valley of the Mississippi, and then watched the canoes, bateaux, 
 and barges round a bend and appear in sight with the head- 
 canoe flying the American flag at its bow. 
 
 The traders and voyageurs remained all summer at Prairie 
 du Chien, and then in the fall took their way into the wilderness 
 again. The voyageurs were as a rule illiterate, and knew nothing 
 but their work. After completing their time for the fur com- 
 panies, many of them returned to Canada, though a few settled 
 in this country. They were an honest people and many of 
 them married among the Indians. When they went to work 
 for the fur company they were required to sign a contract, 
 and this bound them for a term of years. It was about the 
 same as enlisting in the army.^^ 
 
 « See specimen engagement contracts in Wis. Hist. Colls., xix, p. 292; 
 ^x, p. 212.— Ed. 
 
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Recollections of Grignon 
 
 Indian Industries 
 
 I am asked about the industries of the Indians, especially 
 those of the Sioux and Winnebago, with whom I am most 
 familiar. Beginning with the soil, the first work was agricul- 
 ture. The women were very ' industrious and would begin in 
 the spring to spade up their ground for corn planting. They 
 raised what was known as squaw corn, which is a flint corn, and 
 .also raised pumpkins, and any other vegetables, seed of which had 
 found its way into their camp from the fur-traders. But pump- 
 kins and corn were the principal crops raised. The com was 
 cultivated with hoes — big clumsy implements that weighed as 
 much as three or four of our common garden hoes. It was prin- 
 cipally eaten hulled, also in meal after being ground up in a 
 wooden bowl with a large wooden pounder. This was their 
 crude mill. This meal they baked into corn bread, or made it 
 into porridge. They also used green corn as roasting ears, and 
 dried it in the following fashion : they dug a hole in the ground 
 and heated large stones; on these heated stones they threw 
 husks, and on the husks laid the green corn on cobs ; over this 
 corn they threw more husks, and then covered it up and let it 
 cook. "When it was thoroughly cooked, the corn was cut from 
 the cob and put out on mats in the sun to dry. This dried com 
 was used to make soup, and could be kept for years. 
 
 Wigwams, before canvas was introduced, were made of woven 
 grass; long grass called foxtail was utilized for this purpose. 
 Mats made from grasses were about four to six feet in width 
 and twelve or sixteen feet in length. A wooden rod was put 
 at the end of the wigwam mat, and twine made of basswood 
 bark was used to tie the mat to the rod. Several of these mats 
 were used to construct a wigwam, and they would shed rain as 
 readily as canvas does. Both twine and mats were made by 
 hand^ it was a long piece of work for the squaw to make mat- 
 ting for a wigwam, but once completed it lasted for years and 
 was always kept in repair. The matting was light, and very 
 easily carried either on ponies or in canoes. In making this 
 wigwam matting the Indians worked together, several squaws 
 congregating and working until the wigwam was completed, 
 just as pioneer women gathered at quilting-bees. Mats were 
 
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Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 also used as carpets in the wigwam ; and were made for trading 
 purposes as well, for the whites often bought them for use in 
 their houses. The women in the Indian camp also prepared 
 the meat, made the pemmican, and jerked the fresh venison. 
 This kept well though no salt whatever was used. The women 
 also made moccasins and tanned skins of animals for use as 
 clothing. Bags were made out of tanned skin and woven out of 
 wild grasses. These bags were used to carry cooking utensils, 
 clothing, and implements used about the wigwam. 
 
 The Winnebago were noted for mat weaving, basket making, 
 ornamenting skins, and making wooden brooms. They dug out 
 canoes, bowls, and other dishes from wood. These wooden ves- 
 sels were made by the men and were ornamented with the heads 
 of deer and bears, or of some other animal. They also made 
 wooden ladles with handles ornamented with the head of a fish or 
 a bird. The men also made the reed, a musical instrument like 
 a flute. This reed was used in wooing; a brave would play on 
 his reed in front of the wigwam where resided his lady-love. 
 He would play his love tune, and if he was a welcome caller he 
 would be invited in to see the maid for whom he was playing. 
 If he was not welcome, no notice was taken of him, and he would 
 take his departure. Sometimes he would return and play night 
 after night until the reluctant father of the Indian maid 
 would invite him in, but sometimes the father would drive the 
 young wooer away. 
 
 Another instrument of a musical character was the drum, 
 made of a hollow chunk of wood with a piece of rawhide 
 stretched over it. This was called the "tum-tum" and was used 
 at all their dancing. 
 
 Another article of manufacture was the bucket. This was 
 made of birch bark and sewed together with twine from bass- 
 wood bark, while to keep the bucket from leaking a glue, made 
 from cherry sap or gum and from the backbone of a sturgeon, 
 was used. These birch bark pails were used to catch sap. This 
 was collected in a storage trough made of a log dug out and 
 burned so it would hold several barrels. In former years the 
 women did their sewing with sinew from the deer and elk and 
 used bone needles. 
 
 The Sioux were noted for their leather implements. First 
 was the wigwam made of tanned buffalo hides, sewed together 
 
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Recollections of Grignon 
 
 in the shape of a tepee which made a very warm dwelling. 
 The hair was removed from the buffalo skin in making these 
 wigwams, but for blankets and carpets the hides were tanned 
 with the hair left on. These wigwams were decorated with 
 bright paint. As a rule buffalo, deer, elk, horses, and birds 
 were painted on the buffalo hide, but now and then you would 
 see the human figure on a tent, and I have seen a few where 
 a scene with hills, river, and woods ornamented the wigwam. 
 
 The Sioux were the most ingenious of the western Indians 
 in making ornaments. They decorated their clothing with 
 beads and shells. Porcupine quills stained with different colors 
 were used to adorn their arrow quivers, while the arrows were 
 colored, that is, the feather was stained some gaudy color. The 
 bow was made of buffalo sinew and the arrows of wood. The 
 Sioux were likewise expert pipe makers. They used pipe-stone, 
 witli a reed that grows in marshy places, for a stem. The pipe 
 was decorated with bird claws, and tufts of fur from the 
 weasel or mink. I have seen some of the most beautiful pipes 
 among the Sioux that could be imagined. 
 
 The Chippewa were noted for their birch bark canoes. These 
 were made of sheets of birch bark sewed together with sinew 
 and watap root, and sealed with tamarack and pine pitch to 
 keep them from leaiking. These canoes would carry more weight 
 than one would suppose. 
 
 Indian Babies 
 
 Indian children usually have a happy time. The child is 
 put into a straight-back little cradle with sides and a bow 
 handle. It is flat and has no rocker for none is needed. The 
 young Indian babe seldom cries because it is seldom sick. It is 
 a breast-fed baby, and gets along a great deal better than the 
 average white child. Two saplings are used to make a swing 
 for the baby. They are sharpened on one end and stuck in the 
 ground about seven feet apart. A cord made of basswood 
 bark is tied to the cradle and the babe is given a swing by tying 
 the cord to the sapling. There the little one is swung back and 
 forth or jounced up and down. Little trinkets are placed on the 
 
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Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 bow of the cradle for the baby's amusement, and it will lie by 
 the hour and play Avith these trinkets. 
 
 Games of the Indians 
 
 The principal game of the Indian in this part of the country 
 was lacrosse. This game was often played as a sacred game, to 
 redeem the bereaved from their long mourning period. They 
 were obliged by custom to mourn a stated length of time, but 
 could make a sacrifice instead, that is give away a certain amount 
 of furs, blankets, or ponies; and these were played for in the 
 lacrosse game. Two parties were formed, from a dozen to 
 fifteen on a side, and these parties played the game for the 
 goods as a stake, the winners taking the mourners' sacrifice. 
 After the game the mourning was at an end. The game was 
 played with a ball and lacrosse sticks. The ball must not be 
 touched except with the lacrosse stick. 
 
 Among the Indian children games are indulged in ; one some- 
 thing like shinny is played on the ice, and in another the players 
 throw a twisted hickory stick on the ice ; this is driven towards- 
 a goal, the one coming nearest the goal winning. Among the- 
 children sliding down hill is enjoyed. They use basswood and 
 elm bark in making sleds for coasting. They always ride stand- 
 ing, and hold on to a string fastened to the front of their 
 toboggan. They also play on the glaring ice. One game or 
 sport was to take a small round niggerhead stone and spin it 
 on the ice, then take a willow whip and whip it over the ice as, 
 fast as they could go. They had tops to spin also, made of wood, 
 and set in motion with a string. 
 
 Indian Beliefs and Customs 
 
 The marriage ceremony among the Indians was very simple. 
 The young buck would call at the wigwam where resided the 
 Indian maid he wished for a wife. If the mother of the girl 
 was pleased with the young brave, she would not stir the fire 
 in the least, but would sit quietly before the glimmering light 
 of the ground hearth. If, however, she was not pleased with 
 the young suitor, she would stir the fire again and again until 
 
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Recollections of Grignon 
 
 the wooer took his departure and would emphasize her disgust 
 by spitting into the fire art; times. Another custom was for the 
 young buck to bring presents to the parents of the girl he 
 desired, and if these presents, such as ponies, furs, and silver 
 trinkets, were accepted, he would take the girl for his wife. 
 
 The Indians believed in "maunhoonah" meaning the Great 
 Spirit' or Creator of Earth. They believed in the hereafter, 
 and that in order to get to the happy hunting ground, they had 
 to be good Indians. They had a Grand Medicine Society in its 
 form allied to the Free Mason orders. Not all could join this 
 society, but a certain number were taken in each year. Appli- 
 cation was made for membership, and the names taken up in 
 council, and if elected to become a member the candidate was 
 initiated into the order providing, of course, he could fur- 
 nish the necessary fee of furs, blankets, ponies, or goods of any 
 kind. After being initiated, the new member was given a 
 medicine-bag made of the skin of some animal such as the coon, 
 squirrel, otter, or beaver. 
 
 The Medicine-man 
 
 The medicine-man who looks after the bodily ailments of 
 the tribe is not to be confounded with the medicine-man who 
 is a member of the Great Medicine Lodge. The former is 
 usually above the average intelligence, and gifted with the 
 power of impressing his superiority upon the Indians, that is, 
 in dealing with disease. This power of dispelling disease is 
 supposed to be given him by the Great Spirit. In treating a 
 patient, the medicine-man goes through certain incantations and 
 rattles a gourd, which has seed or shot in it. He also uses 
 roots and herbs for the treatment of the sick. A great deal of 
 ginseng is used, and the bark of poplar trees, mandrake or 
 May-apple root, and sweet-flag. The list of herbs would be a 
 long one, and some of the medicine-men obtained very good 
 results from these herbs, which they used as a tea, after steep- 
 ing them over a fire in a kettle containing a sufficient amount 
 of water. Some of these Indian doctors became noted even 
 among the whites, and were able in a limited number of dis- 
 eases to give relief and to obtain cures. They also practised 
 
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 surgery, setting bones, opening abscesses, and treating wounds 
 of various kinds. Their instruments were crude and were made 
 mostly of bone and iron. 
 
 Mortuary Customs 
 
 At the burial or funeral ceremony, some member of the tribe 
 jsvas appointed to speak at the grave of the departed Indian. 
 The mourners passed around the head of the grave in single 
 file and scattered tobacco over the open grave. The funeral 
 orator gave an oration on the life of the departed and pictured 
 his journey into the land of the hereafter. Food was left on 
 the grave sufficient to carry him on his journey, and a supply 
 of tobacco, so that he could take comfort on the way to the 
 happy hunting ground. On the death of a member of the 
 tribe, the survivors had a wake — not exactly like the Irish 
 wake — but friends and mourners met at the home where a death 
 occurred, a speech was made, after which all except the mourn- 
 ers joined in a feast. This wake was the beginning of mourn- 
 ing, and the mourners observed the custom of fasting for at 
 least three days. If a woman lost her husband, she remained 
 with her husband's relatives for a number of months and was 
 compelled to do their work without a murmur. She was not 
 allowed to comb her hair for a number of months, or to orna- 
 ment herself in any way, but went ragged and dirty with her 
 hair unkempt and was forced to do the bidding of her husband's 
 relatives. At the end of the mourning period she was liberated 
 to go where she pleased and do as she pleased; she frequently 
 remarried. 
 
 Miscellaneous Customs 
 
 When I was at Long Prairie, I was much interested in a cus- 
 tom among the Winnebago of making morning speeches. Early 
 each morning when the weather would permit, one of the ora- 
 tors would appear in front of his wigwam and give an address 
 of a religious nature to the Indians, who would assemble to 
 hear the exliorter. He usually spoke in a kindly way, offering 
 advice and telling the tribesmen to carry themselves in a manner 
 
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Recollections of Grignon 
 
 befitting good, true men and women. I suppose such a person 
 among the whites would be called an evangelist. 
 
 Among the noted orators and chiefs that I have known were 
 "Winnoshiek, Black Hawk, Decorah, Wah-pa-sha, Little Creek, 
 Little Priest, Snake Hide, Little Hill, Short Wing, and many 
 others whose names I cannot recall. Big Fire was a noted 
 astronomer. He studied the heavens and was familiar with the 
 principal groups of stars. 
 
 The Indians had the heavens mapped out into constellations 
 and were familiar with all the changes of the moon. They often 
 studied the stars on cold nights when the light from the constel- 
 lations was most brilliant. A month was called a moon and a 
 year of time designated a winter. 
 
 Tribal History 
 
 Legends and traditions of the tribes were passed down from 
 one generation to another by means of "word passers." ^ 
 number of young Indians, say eight or ten, were chosen on ac- 
 count of their good memories to study, and learn lessons from 
 the older "word passers." These young Indians were drilled 
 in the legends, history, and traditions of the tribe. They were 
 required to repeat them over again and again, omitting no de- 
 tail, until they knew them by heart; and when the old "word 
 passers" died, another generation of young men was select©^ 
 and instructed by their predecessors. Thus dates and incidents 
 were passed on from generation to generation, and a living 
 history was kept. An old Winnebago chief, Decorah,^- ha4 a 
 very interesting cane that he showed me one day, when I visitjed 
 him in his wdgwam. On this cane were carved many figures, « 
 sort of hieroglyphics. It had been handed down from father 
 to son and was in reality a record which old Decorah could read. 
 It was a crude history of the tribe covering a good many years, 
 and if I could remember some of the accounts Decorah gave me 
 as recorded on the cane, they would be worth hearing. 
 
 ^"For a brief account of the Decorah family of chiefs, see Id, xx, 
 p. 235, note 34. Antolne Grignon was a descendant of this family, his 
 grandmother, wife of Perische Grignon, being a daughter of Konokah 
 Decorah; his wife's mother was likewise of the same family. — Ed. 
 
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Wisconsin Historical Society 
 
 The War-eagle Feather 
 
 The Sioux were fond of decorating themselves with quills, 
 furs, and feathers; but I think they had one custom which is 
 worth noting. A brave or more particularly a warrior used a 
 war-eagle feather to adorn his hair. This long feather in the 
 hair of a warrior was a mark of distinction, and it was ac- 
 quired on merit, for no brave could wear one who did not merit 
 it. On the feather notches were cut if the warrior had been 
 successful in war. Each notch on one side of the feather rep- 
 resented a scalp taken from an enemy. The notches on the 
 other side signified the number of times the brave had been on 
 the war-path. This made it easy for one to tell what kind of 
 a war record a brave had. If a warrior had a well notched 
 feather he was looked up to and envied and praised by his 
 tribesmen ; he felt his superiority, too, and carried himself with 
 a distinguished air. War-eagles were scarce and it was some- 
 times hard to get feathers. I remember one time seeing an 
 Indian trade a pony for a war-eagle feather. Hunting parties 
 from Wabashaw's village used to go out in search for the war- 
 eagle, and a favorite resting-place for these eagles was among 
 the hills of Waumandee. Waumandee means in Sioux "the 
 land of the war-eagle." 
 
 Indian Invitations 
 
 Another peculiar custom which I recollect is the method of 
 inviting a party of Indians to attend a dance, feast, or other 
 gathering. One day while I was camped with a band of Sioux 
 near the site of what is now Marshland, an Indian came into 
 camp who was from another camp near Homer (Minnesota). 
 He had crossed the Mississippi in a canoe, and came to invite 
 several of the Indians over to his camp to attend a medicine 
 dance. He would enter a tent and pass around some small 
 sticks, and explain his object and depart. He must have had at 
 least fifty sticks answering the purpose of invitation cards, which 
 he distributed. 
 
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Recollections of Grignon 
 
 Indian Character 
 
 The Indians as I knew them were as a general thing peaceable. 
 They loved their native haunts and their families and may be 
 called a happy people. They had plenty. . Game abounded; 
 there was an abundance of fur-bearing animals ; and the streams 
 were full of fish. There was no need of poverty for with plenty 
 of corn and wild meat and with fur enough to buy ammunition, 
 traps, and knives, there was little else needed to make their lot 
 an easy and comfortable one. They were not a stolid people, but 
 were fond of fun. There was a humorous side to the Indian 
 and a genial friendship when once you came to know him, but 
 I have no respect for that unnatural picture so often made of 
 him — the word picture of the novelist that shows him devoid of 
 sentiment and emotion, a cold, cruel, unfeeling stoic, whose face 
 is never rippled with a smile or stained with a tear. I think 
 there is a truer picture of the Indian, as a natural human being 
 with a heart that feels pain and pleasure, with a mind that ap- 
 preciates the good and bad, the true and false, with a spirit that 
 enjoys home and companions and friendship, with a life that 
 throbs with love and sentiment. The Indian I knew loved and 
 laughed with his children, visited his neighbor, had warm per- 
 sonal friendships, and loved the life of peaceful contentment 
 he was living, a life near to nature. 
 
 I have often visited the Sioux and Winnebago and passed long 
 pleasant hours in their wigwams, talking with them on various 
 subjects as we sat circled about the glowdng fire. I have heard 
 the laugh of their children and seen them frolic about as happy 
 as any young ones I ever saw. I have seen them play games 
 and join in sports, and they were as interesting to watch as 
 other children. Of course there were some whose barbarous 
 nature was revealed. There are some white people also whose 
 barbarous nature gets the upper hand of them. But take the 
 Indian, all in all, he was a happy creature during the fur-trading 
 days. 
 
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 A War Party 
 
 One August day in the fifties we went up the tamarack plum- 
 ing, for the place was noted for its wild plums. "We had started 
 to gather plums, and were intent on our work, when all of a sud- 
 den the stillness of the slimmer solitude was broken by a yell, 
 a war-cry uttered in its wild blood-curdling manner. On look- 
 ing up I saw our party completely surrounded by a band of 
 Sioux warriors. It was a war party out after Chippewa; they 
 mistook us for their enemies, but soon saw their mistake and 
 went peaceably away. We gathered our plums in safety and 
 returned home, but we never forgot the surprise we received by 
 the Sioux warriors. 
 
 Primitive Justice 
 
 In cases of murder in the tribe the guilty party was given a 
 trial. Witnesses were called to testify and speakers were 
 chosen for and against the defendant. If the accused person 
 was found guilty, a council was held to detennine the punish- 
 ment. They usually ordered the murderer killed in the same 
 manner he used in slaying his victim — death by shooting, stab- 
 bing, or tomahawking as the case might be. In some cases the 
 accused would redeem himself by furnishing enough goods 
 such as ponies, furs, or weapons, to secure his liberty; these 
 goods which were distributed among the dead person's im- 
 mediate relatives, prevented retaliation on their part. 
 
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