Having heard this, Red Bird stood up; the commanding officer, Maj. Whistler, a few paces in front of the center of the line, facing him. After a moment's pause and a quick survey of the troops, he spoke, saying, "I am ready." Then, advancing a step or two, he paused, saying, "I do not wish to be put in irons. Let me be free. I have given away my life; it is gone" (stooping and taking some dust between his finger and thumb and blowing it away) "like that," eyeing the dust as it fell and vanished from his sight, adding, "I would not take it back; it is gone. Having thus spoken, he threw his hands behind him and marched up to Maj. Whistler, breast to breast. A platoon was wheeled backward from the center of the line, when, the Major stepping aside, Red Bird and We-Kaw marched through the line, in charge of a file of men, to a tent provided for them in the rear, where a guard was set over them. The comrades of the two captives then left the ground by the way they had come, taking with them Maj. Whistler's advice and a supply of meat, flour and tobacco. We-Kaw, the miserable-looking being, the accomplice of the Red Bird, was in all things the opposite of that unfortunate brave. Never were two persons so totally unlike. The one seemed a prince, and as if born to command, and worthy to be obeyed; the other, as if he had been born to be hanged-meager, cold, dirty in his person and dress, crooked in form like the starved wolf, gaunt, hungry and bloodthirsty; his entire appearance indicating the presence of a spirit wary, cruel and treacherous. The prisoners were admitted into safe-keeping at Prairie du Chien, to await their trial in the regular courts of justice for murder. The next spring, Red Bird, We-Kaw and another Winnebago prisoner were tried at Prairie du Chien, before Judge J. D. Doty, who went from Green Bay, by way of the portage, for that purpose, convicted and sentenced to death. Red Bird died in prison. A deputation of the tribe went to Washington to solicit the pardon of the others. President Adams granted it on the implied condition that the tribe would cede the lands then in the possession of the miners. The Winnebagoes agreed to this. Mme. Gagnier was compensated for the loss of her husband and the mutilation of her infant. At the treaty held at Prairie du Chien in 1829, provision was made for two sections of land to her and her two children; and the Government agreed to pay her the sum of $50 per annum for fifteen years, to be deducted from the annuity of the Winnebago Indians. In closing this account of the "Winnebago war," we give an anecdote which places the Winnebago character in an amiable light: The militia of Prairie du Chien, immediately after the affair of the boats, seized the old chief, De-kau-ry, and four other Indians; and he was informed that if Red Bird should not be given up within a certain time, he and the others were to die in his place. This he steadfastly believed. A messenger, a young Indian, was sent to inform the tribe of the state of affairs; and several days had elapsed and no information was received of the murderers. The dreadful day was near at hand, and De-kau-ry, being in a bad state of health, asked permission of the officer to go to the river to indulge in his longaccustomed habit of bathing, in order to improve his health; upon which Col. Snelling told him if he would promise, on the honor of a chief, that he would not leave town, he might have his liberty and enjoy all his privileges until the day appointed for his execution. Accordingly, he first gave his hand to the Colonel, thanking him for his friendly offer, then raised both hands aloft and in the most solemn adjuration promised that he would not leave the bounds prescribed, and said if he had a hundred lives he would sooner lose them all than forfeit his word. He was then set at liberty. He was advised to flee to the wilderness and make his escape. "But no!" said he, "do you think I prize life above honor?" He then remained complacently until nine days of the ten which he had to live had elapsed, and still nothing was heard promising the apprehension of the murderers. No alteration could be seen in the countenance of the chief. It so happened that, on that day, Gen. Atkinson arrived with his troops from Jefferson Barracks, and the order for the execution was countermanded and the Indians permitted to return to their homes. UNITED STATES LAND SURVEYS AND LAND DISTRICTS. As soon as a considerable tract of country south of the Wisconsin was secured from the Indians by treaties, the General Government commenced the survey of it. The following is a tabulated statement of the surveys made in Šauk County, with the date of survey and name of surveyor: TOWNSHIP 8, RANGE 3 East......Subdivisions..... Alvin Burt..... TOWNSHIP 8, RANGE 4 East...... TOWNSHIP 9, RANGE 3 East...... TOWNSHIP 10, RANGE 5 East..... 1st quarter, 1840. Township Lines. William A. Burt...... Township Lines. William A. Burt.. Township 10, RANGE 7 East.....Township Lines. William A. Burt.. TOWNSHIP 11, RANGE 5 East..... TOWNSHIP 11, RANGE 6 East..... TOWNSHIP 12, RANGE 5 East..... TOWNSHIP 12, RANGE 6 East..... Subdivisions...... Alvin Burt........... East.....Township Lines. William A. Burt... TOWNSHIP 13, RANGE 2 East..... TOWNSHIP 13, RANGE 3 East..... TOWNSHIP 13, RANGE 4 East..... TOWNSHIP 13, RANGE 5 East..... 3d quarter, 1843. Dec., 1844, and Jan., 1845. April, 1845. september, 1845. April, 1845. July, 1845. April, 1845. June and July, 1845. April, 1845. June, 1845. September. 1845. April, 1845. September, 1845. The northern boundary line of the State of Illinois, fixed April 11, 1818, on the parallel of 42° 30′ north latitude, became, properly enough, the base line of these surveys. A principal north-and-south line (known as the Fourth Meridian) was run, extending from the base line to Lake Superior, at right angles with the last-mentioned line. The Fourth Meridian is west of the territory of Sauk County, running on the east boundary of what is now the county of Grant, and on the west boundary of La Fayette and Iowa Counties, and thence onward due north, a distance west of the most westerly point of Sauk County of six miles, striking Lake Superior a short distance west of the mouth of the Montreal River. Parallel lines to the Fourth Meridian were run every six miles on the east and west sides of it. The intervening six miles between these lines are called ranges. Range 1 east is the first six miles of territory east of the Fourth Meridian; Range 2 east is the second six miles, and so on to Lake Michigan-Sauk County lying in Ranges 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 east. Parallel lines north of the base line (the north boundary line of the State of Illinois) were run every six miles, which, crossing the ranges at right angles, cut the whole into blocks six miles square, called townships. These are numbered by tiers going north from the base line, the first tier being known as Township 1 north, the second tier as Township 2 north, and so on. As the most southern boundary of Sauk County is distant from the base line seven townships, of course the first or most southern tier of townships in the county is numbered 8 north; and as there are six tiers, they are numbered consecutively Townships 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 north. But the county does not include the whole of Townships 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 north, of Ranges 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 east, as a considerable portion is included in the Counties of Columbia, Dane, Iowa and Richland. By the end of 1833, a large amount of public land in Wisconsin, south and east of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, had been surveyed; and, the fact being reported by the Surveyor General, two land districts were erected by an act of Congress, approved June 26, 1834. These districts embraced all the land north of the State of Illinois, west of Lake Michigan, south and southeast of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, included in the then Territory of Michigan. The area was then divided by a north-and-south line, drawn from the base line to the Wisconsin River, between Ranges 8 and 9. All east of that line was called the Green Bay Land District; all west, the Wisconsin Land District. A land office of the eastern district was established at Green Bay; of the western district, at Mineral Point. The public sales of the surveyed lands in the two districts were held in 1835, at Green Bay and Mineral Point. It was provided in the act of Congress creating the Green Bay and Wisconsin Land Districts, that they should embrace the country north of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, where the Indian title to the same had become extinguished. On the 1st day of November, 1837, the Winnebago Indians ceded to the General Government all their lands east of the Mississippi River. By this treaty, the United States came in possession of lands north of the Wisconsin, of which that portion now constituting Sauk County was a part; so this territory (with much other) was ordered surveyed, which survey, as before stated, was finished in 1845. The two land districts the Green Bay and Wisconsin-were then extended north, Sauk County falling in the Wisconsin District, the land office being at Mineral Point. "Each An old settler who witnessed the sale of lands in the Milwaukee District, says: Register and Receiver of a land office had a salary of $500 per annum, together with 2 per cent upon all sales, until the whole amounted to $3,000 a year. During 1835-36, most of the land between Rock River and the Mississippi and Wisconsin were offered for sale. Eight hundred and sixty-three thousand acres and more were sold, a large portion of which fell into the hands of speculators, which greatly retarded the settlement of the country. Most of those lands remained unoccupied for many years. The Milwaukee Land District embraced the southeast portion of the territory as far north as Manitowoc. The Green Bay District was north of it, and Mineral Point west. The first officers of the Milwaukee District were Col. Morton, B |