A history of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin; including the Four Lake country

Appendix

OF NOTES ON DANE COUNTY AND ITS TOWNS.

DANIEL si:^DURRIE,

Librarian of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

-J

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-four,

By Daniel S. Durrie,

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D, C.

ATWOOD & CULVER.

STERKOTYPERS AND PRINTERS.

MADISON, WIS.

Preface

The author of this volume has long beeu impressed with the fact, that much information relative to the early and later history of Madison and adjacent country, had not been written; and that some one should undertake the task of compiling the necessary materials for such a work, availing himself of the opportunity now afforded to consult those of our citizens who established themselves here as pioneers and early settlers, before circumstances should render it impossible to do so. Manj^ of these have passed away ; others have removed to new localities, and the few that now remain, w^ill, in the ordinary course of events, be with us but a short period.

It is true, that a portion of our history has been written. To Maj. H A. Tenney we are indebted for many interesting facts collected in past time, which were published in a small pamphlet in 1851, and subsequently re-printed. In 1857, Hon. L. C. Draper prepared a similar work, much enlarged; but these pamphlets, while they accomplished the object of their publication, in drawing public attention to the beauty and desirability of Madison as a place of settlement, did not go into the minutiae of our early history, and necessarily were written up only to the date of publication, and are now out of print. The changes and improvements that have since taken place, have been so marked .as to entitle Madison to a history more complete and brought down to the present time, and the present work is designed to supply such a deficiency.

It is not necessary to offer any apology for local history — the main object of which is to furnish the first elements of general history, to record facts rather than deductions from facts. In these municipalities — these separate incorporations — are to be found many of the first moving causes which tend to operate on and revolutionize public

4 PEE FACE.

opinion. Many facts, minute in themselves, are in this view very important. The details, which is the appropriate province of the local historian to spread before the public, are not so much history itself, as materials for history, leaving to the general historian, who has before him all these details, to exhibit the connection of the several parts, and their dependence one upon another.

The present volume has been prepared from information derived from the Madison newspaper files in the library of the Historical Society — from pioneers — from the village, town and city records, and every reliable authority accessible; and, it is believed, that what isherein stated is in all respects true; or, if there are errors, they will not be found important.

The writer is greatly indebted to many of the early settlers for the interest they have taken in the publication of this volume, and for their personal reminiscences of early times; among these may be named Mrs. Roseline Peck, of Baraboo, Wis., the first settler of that place as well as Madison; R. L. Ream, Esq., of Washington*- D. C; Gen. S. Mills, of Madison; Hon. M. M. Strong, of Mineral Point, Wis.; J. T. Clark, Esq., of Topeka, Kansas; Dr. C. B. Chapman,. Maj. H. A. Tenney, and R. W. Lansing, Esq., of Madison. Thanks are, also due to Lyman C. Draper, LL. D., Secretary of the State Historical Society, for valuable assistance. Among this number also, who took a deep interest in the enterprise, was the Hon. John Catlin, one ot our most honored pioneers. This gentleman, while laboring under protractedillness, furnished much information of his early residence at Madison. While this work was passing through the press, and on the 4th of August, 1874, he departed this life at his residence at Elizabeth, N. J.,, in the 71st year of his age, highly respected by every one.

The illustrated edition of this work has been prepared by Mr. N. P. Jones, Photographer, Madison, whose reputation in his department is unrivalled.

Madison, Wis., October 1, 1874.

Chapter I

^ EbeLzkk BB..nAM-THE B..B >1o™.s-Yis:t o. M.^^

DOTT, BAiBB A«D Mabtin, 1828 - The Fouk lakes -I^DIA^

^Lb^bs at B..E MO..BS-THE BBAOK Ha.k Wab-Wake-

.XELB-S ACOOXIKT O. FO^B LAKE CO™TBT - CaPT. LoWS YlSIT -

B SLAWHTEB-SmVEVS BY J. V. S.YBAM -TOPOOBAPHICAX,.

DE8CBIPTI0N OE Mabison-Hok. John Catbin's E eminiscekce^-

Chapter II. Location Oe Se.at Op Govbb.me.t - Tebbitos.ab Ouoanizatiok

Hon M. M. Stbong's Eably Subveys - Visit of A. F. Pbatt,- 1837-ABBivAB OP Eben Peck and Family - Feathebston- HA^H-s VISIT, 1837-Abbivab op a. a. Bibb anb Pabty-W.

WOOLCOCK'S account -DESCBIPTION OE Ol.B C.APITOB- MaBISON HOTEB-N.AMES OE WOBKMEN - S. MlI.I.S' AKBIYAB - ACCOUNT

OE EABLY Buildinos-Mbs. Roseline Peck's Recollections^

Chapter III

Visit of Gen W. K. Smith, 18«7 - First Lecislatbbe - " WiscokbW ^" L;!beb .. anb otheb newspapers _ DANE county Co^iission-

EBS-POLL LIST OF 1839 -"Mabison Express "-JubgeJ^G.

^APP'^^AccouNT, 1838- JULY 4 Celebration -SCHOOLS -MEB

• f;ANTS-P.E.CH;.BCHOBOANI.EB-R.L.REAM.sKEMINISCENCES^,

1838-9.

€> TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER ly.

Bane County Affaiks, 1840 — Pkotestant Episcopal Church His-

TORY CONTINUED — NATIONAL ANNIVERSARY, 1840 — CONGREGA- TIONAL Church Organization — Settlers, 1840— Kev. Dr. A. Brunson's First Visit — Improvements, 1841 — Dane County Residents, 1841 — Schools — Killing of Hon. C. C. Arndt — ^S'ewspapers, 1842-5 — Visit op J. A. Brown and Dr. Goodhue — Census, 1843 — Kentucky House — Madison, 1843 — Improve- ■ ivrENTS: Schools, 1844-5 — Madison Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons — Narratives of R. W. Lansing and H. A. Ten- ^^Y- 125-165

CHAPTER Y.

Tillage and Town Elections 1846-49 — Water Power - Celebra- TiON, July 4, 1846 — Public Cemetery — Dr. C. B. Chapman's and J. T. Clark's Reminiscences — Hope Lodge I. O. O. F. — Knapp's Account of Capitol Grounds — L.J. Far well's Arrival — First Bell in Madison— Organization op Baptist Church 1847 — Trial of Gross for Murder— Growth op Village, 1848 — State Historical Society, 1849— State University. 166-203

CHAPTER VI.

Hy^r's Reminiscences of Covalle, Pinneo, Ubeldeen, Tom Jackson, Judges Frazer and Irvin — Knapp's Notice of Irvin — A Leap op Western History — University Property and Improvements — Elections, 1850-3 — Gov. Farwell's Improvements — Schools, 1850-3 — Newspapers — Madison Mutual Insurance Company — Fourth op July — Presbyterian Church Organization and History — Capitol House — Public Improvements, 1852-4 — Baptist Church Erected — R. Catholic Church — Madison Institute — Opening op Railroad to Milwaukee — Bruen's Block — Lake Side Water Cure — Statistics. 204-243

CHAPTER VII.

Horace Greeley's Visit 1855. — Elections 1855-'61 — Gas Light AND Coke Co. — Grace Church — Schools, 1855-6 — Public and Private Improvements — Congregational Church— National Anniversaries, 1855-61 — Madison Incorporated as a City, 1855 —Business Firms — Peat Beds — City Hall — University Buildings — Hospital for Insane Commenced, and New State Capitol Projected — Organization op Military Companies — Notice of Hon. T. W. Sutherland — Op Col. James Morrison—Rebellion History, 1861. 244-284

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 7

CHAPTER VIII.

Rebellion History, continued — Death op Gov. Harvey — Elec" TiONS, 1862-69 — Public Schools, 1862-69— Old Capitol Demolished, AND South Wing Built — State Historical Society History — Death of Nathaniel Ames — Steam Navigation — Business Statistics, 1865-68 — History of Governor's Guard — Artesian Well — National Anniversaries, 1867-70 — U. States- Court House — Public and Private Improvements. 285-S2S

CHAPTER IX.

Efforts to Remove the State Capital — Notice of Col. Bird — History of Grace Church, continued — Park Hotel Company — University Ward School House — "State Journal'^ Reminiscences — Public Improvements, 1870-4 — Female Co3> LEGE — Schools — National Anniversary — Railroad Entekprises — The Messersmith House — Yacht and Boat Clubs — Notice of John Stoner — Presbyterian Church ImproteiiENTS — Methodist Episcopal Church — Artesian Well — High School Building — Elections, 1870-4 — Grace Church: Chimes — Congregational CnuiiCH Building — Dane Countt Cave — Conclusion. 327-S81

APPENDIX.

Madison City Officers. 383-S9(^'

Danb County and Towns. . 391^1S-

MADISON

AND THE

FOUR LAKE COUNTRY OF WISCONSIN.

Chapter I

Aboriginal and French History — Antiquities — Arrival of Ebenezer Brigham — The Blue Mounds — Visit of Messrs. Doty, Baird and Martin, 1828 — The Four Lakes — Indian Troubles at Blue Mounds — The Black Hawk War — Wakefield's Account of Four Lake Country — Capt. Low's Yisit — Early Traders: Armel, Rowan, Rasdall, St. Cyr — Col. Wm. B. Slaughter — Surveys by J. V. Suydam — Topographical Description of Madison — Hon. John Catlin's Reminiscences.

It would be interesting, if not profitable, to know when and through whom the section of country now occupied by the city of Madison and adjoining the Four Lakes, was first made known to Europeans; but it is one of those questions much easier asked than answered.

Wisconsin, it is well known, was visited at an early date by the Jesuit Fathers, and a mission established at the Rapids de Pere, on the Fox river, near Green Bay, in 1669. In June, 1673, the Upper Mississippi river was discovered by Father Marquette and his companion Joliet, who passed up the Fox and down the Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi. This was the great thoroughfare through Wisconsin for a long period but we do not find any record of explorations to the north or south of those streams, until Capt. Joi^A. Cakver passed down the Wisconsin to the " Great Town of the Saukies, " Prairie du Sac, in October, 1766, and while at that place made an excursion to what he calls "some mountains that lie about fifteen miles to the southward, and abound in lead ore." These mountains are now known as the " Blue Mounds."

There is every reason to believe that the "Four Lake Country" was not unknown to the French traders soon after a trading post was established at Green Bay; and it is a well established fact that, early as 1655, there were Frenchmen engaged in trade at that point; and, wherever there is a reasonable prospect of gain, there will be found the hardy adventurer, however difficult the path or dangerous the road.

These traders and their employes, while collecting peltries, visited every available location, and it is not a reasonable supposition that this rich section of country, abounding with lakes the favorite abode of fur-bearing animals, should have been overlooked or unknown. Again, it was the interest of these persons to keep the knowledge they had acquired to themselves for their own particular benefit; and, in connection with this subject, Capt. Carver in his narrative* says: "I cannot help remarking that all the maps of these parts I have ever seen are very erroneous — the rivers, in general, running in diflPerent directions from what they really do, etc. Whether this is done by the French geographers (for all English maps are copied from theirs) through design, or for a want of a just knowledge of the country, I cannot say." Some of these maps would indicate that the country south of the Wisconsin was generally swampy, and apparently of little value.

"These singular men, the trappers," says Hon. J. Y. Smith, " were shrewdly silent in regard to their wanderings and explorations, especially when they extended to beautiful and fertile regions. It was part of their policy to discourage immigration of those who were devoted to industrial pursuits, as they anticipated therefrom competition and the general decline

* " Travels in the Interior Parts of North America in 1766, '67 and '68, by Capt. J. Carver. London. 1778. 8vo."

of tlieir trade which must inevitably follow upon the settlement of the country."

The Four Lake Country, we also know, was the favored locality of that mysterious race who long since inhabited this state, and who have left behind those remarkable mounds and earth-works, fortifications and embankments which are found in the most beautiful locations in .this vicinity.

I. A. Lapham, LL.D., in his valuable work on the Antiquities of Wisconsin, refers to some of these mounds, and as they are fast disappearing, and some of them no longer in existence, his account wdll prove interesting:

"In the vicinity of the Four Lakes, where Madison, the capital of the state is situated, the mound-builders have left unusually numerous traces of their former occupancy and industry. These lakes are united by a stream called the Catfish, now known as Yahara, through which the waters are conveyed to the Rock river. The mounds, situated six and twelve miles west of the Four Lakes, were among the first of the animal-shaped mounds of which an account was published in Silliman's Amer. Jour., Vol. XXXIV, etc. A figure on the Third Lake (Monona), near the residence of Ex-Gov. Fairchild, was fortunately rescued from oblivion by Mr. F. HuDSOiir, in 1842. Its length was 318 feet, and shape of a lizard. In grading Wisconsin avenue and Wilson street it had to be removed. On the north side of Lake Wingra, on the road to Monroe, there is an irregular row of mounds, comprising two quadrupeds, one bird, and one mound with lateral projections, five oblong and twenty-seven circular tumuli."

Accurate drawings and surveys of these and other mounds in this vicinity are given in Dr. Lapham's valuable work.

The Sac and Fox nations of Indians were for a long period the occupants of the Fox river valley countr}^ and of the Wisconsin, before the permanent settlement was made. They were a warlike race of old, as we know that nearly two hundred years since, the French who had rarely become involved with the aborigines, were obliged by force of arms to wrest from them the privilege of transit between Green Bay and the Mississippi. The lakes were tlieir favorite resort owing undoubtedly to the abundance of fish and water fowl ; the shallow bays were literally covered spring and autumn with myriads of ducks. The larger game of deer were numerous, and the marshes afforded abundance of peltry.

The ground upon which Madison is built, was in common with most of the region included between the Mississippi and the Wisconsin and Rock rivers, purchased from the nations in 1825, at which time they relinquished all claim to lands east of the Mississippi. These Indians were reputed among the early settlers to be peculiarly faithless and savage. They seemed to have repented the surrender of their old hunting grounds, and in 1831 we find them again on the east side of the river, greatly annoying the settlers and destroying much property. They were speedily driven back, and entered into a new treaty with the United States, the terms of which were much the same as those of the treaty of 1825. The next year they again returned to the east side of the river, and shortly after took place what is usually known as the ''Winnebago Outbreak," succeeded by the Black Hawk War ; after which the Indians were again and permanently removed to the west, and tranquility ensued.

The first pioneer settler within the present county of Dane, was Colonel EBEiyTEZER Brigham. This gentleman was so identified with our history, that it is necessary to give a memoir of his life and the events connected therewith. No one ever lived in this section that was better known or more highly appreciated than Col. Brigham. He died at Madison, September 11, 1861, in the T2d year of his age.

Ebekezer Brigham was born at Shrewsbury, Worcester county, Mass., April 28, 1789. In 1818 he came to Olean Point in the State of New York. The Alleghany river was then the only channel known through western New York, and that was only navigated by canoes, rafts or skiff's. He came through in a canoe, and at Pittsburgh took a flat boat down the Ohio river. The villages on the river were all small. During the journey down he saw but one steamboat. On arriving at

FOUR LAKE COUNTRY OF WISCONSIN. IS

Sliawneetowii, he landed and walked tlirougli to St. Louis. There was nothing at that place but a small French settlement — not more than three or four brick houses in the town. In 1822 he first set foot upon Wisconsin soil, but not to remain. At Galena he found Col. James Johxson-, a brother of Col. Richard M. Johnso^^, who was just opening the mines, and subsequently he spent a short time at Springfield. In 1827 he embarked for Wisconsin with an ox team. At that time there was a large emigration to the lead mines, in the southwestern part of the state, as the ore was abundant and the price remunerative. He remained a while near Platteville and was engaged in mining, and with a small party pitched his tent (so to speak) on what is now the Block House branch of the Platte river. From this point the party retreated in haste to Galena, owing to the commencement of hostilities by the Indians. In the spring of 1828 he removed to Blue Mounds, the most advanced outpost in the mines. The only source of food supply was from Galena. Soon after he had raised his cabin he took a trip with two companions to Fort Winnebago to ascertain whether food could not be more easily obtained at that point. The route taken, was north of Fourth Lake, probably on or near the line of the old military road afterwards laid out. They obtained a supply of salt pork, hard bread, powder and some other things, of a sutler, not loading heavily, and on the return struck south, striking the old trail that formerly ran between the Third and Fourth Lakes, following it up to the hill where the capitol now stands, Avhere they encamped over night. Intercourse with the Indians had made known to them the existence of the lake region before they started. From the enchanting view of the spot, he predicted that a village would be built there, and probably the future capital of the Territory. The isolated condition where he settled will be apparent from the statement of a few facts. The nearest settler was at what is now Dodgeville. Mineral Point and other mining places where villages have since grown up, had not then been discovered. On the southeast the nearest house was on the OTlaine river, twelve miles west of Chicago. On the east, Solomo:n- Juj^eau was his nearest neigh-

14: HISTORY OF MADISOX AND THE

bor at the moutli of Milwaukee river, and on the northeast, Green Bay was the nearest settlement.

Shortly after locating at the Mounds, Mr. Brigham, in cornpan}^ with Col. Wm. S. IlAMiLTOi^ and M. Gratiot and some others, visited Green Bay in order to settle on certain boundaries between the whites and the Indians. The line was fixed upon, and the Indians blazed the trees along this line, notifyfying the whites not to pass it^ a prohibition about as effectual as the whistling of the wind.

For several years after his coming, the savages were the sole lords of the soil ; a large Indian village stood near the mouth of Token Creek; another stood on the ridge between Second and Third Lakes, and their wigwams were scattered all along the streams. When the capital was located here, he was the nearest settler to it, though twenty-five miles distant.

Soon after his settlement, he was honored with the appointment of magistrate from Governor Lewis Cass. He held this commission four years, and all the duty he performed during that time was to marry one couple. He often related an anecdote of being called upon to go some thirty miles to marry a couple, but on arriving within a short distance of the place, word had been left there that the fair lady had changed her mind, and he must not come any farther. Mr. Brigham, however, went on and introduced another friend, who succeeded in making a contract, and the next spring he was called upon to ratify it, and this was the only ofiicial act of a four years term of justice of the peace.

The principal object of his location at this point, as before stated, was mining for lead, and at the same time cultivating the soil. One of the leads on his land was " proved " before his death to the depth of seventy-five to one hundred feet when the workmen were prevented by water from going deeper. Upwards of four million pounds were taken from this lead with no other machinery than the common windlass, rope and tub. This lead was hauled to Green Bay, Chicago and Galena. On his first trip to Chicago, there was not a house or wagon track between that place and Blue Mounds. He was fifteen days in reaching liis destination, fording with his oxen and load of lead the Rock and Fox rivers and the smaller streams on the route. In this expedition he was accompanied by a favorite dog, for which he was offered in Chicago a village lot, which was situated where now is the most valuable property in that city. In those days the whole site of the town could have been purchased for a few hundred dollars.

Col. Brigham, at the organization of the territorial government, was elected a member of the council, and was re-elected, serving nine terms, from 1836 to 1841. When the state government was organized, 1848, he was elected a member of assembly. He died at the residence of his niece, Mrs. H. G. Bliss, at Madison, September 14, 1861, aged seventy-two years.

A short description of the Four Lakes, in the vicinity of Madison, and the Blue Mounds, may prove of service, taken from I. A. Lapham's " History of Wisconsin: "

There are in all, twelve lakes in Dane county — but the principal, and those most attractive, are the Four Lakes, lying in the valley of the Cat Fish or Yahara, and nearly in a direct line from northwest to southeast.

Kegon^sa, or First Lake. — This lake is the lowest of the four. Its longest diameter is three and one-eighth miles by two miles in its shortest; its circumference is nine and a half miles, and it covers five square miles. It is situated nine miles above Dunkirk Falls, near the southern line of the county, and lies in the towns of Dunn and Pleasant Springs.

Waubesa, or Second Lake. — This body of water lies three and a half miles above Kegonsa. Its length is three and a half miles, and its width about two; and with it, has an average depth of about twelve feet. The larger part is in the town of Dunn, and the remainder in Blooming-Grove.

Mois'OJ^-A, OR Third Lake, is next above, at a distance of seven-eighths of a mile. It is about six and a half miles long, by two broad, occupying an area of six square miles. Madison, the County Seat and Capital of the State, is located on the strip of land about one mile across, between this and Lake Mendota.

The larger part is in the town of Blooming-Grove and the remainder in Madison.

Mej^tdota, oe Fourth Lake. — This is the uppermost and by far the largest of the Four Lakes. It has a periphery of nineteen and one-fourth miles, and covers an area of fifteen and sixty-five one hundreths square miles. Its diameter is six miles by nine. The larger part is in the town Madison and the remainder in Westport.

Each lake is surrounded by a broad valley, which, with the bottom lands bordering upon the numerous small streams, flowing into them, on all sides, forms a portion of agricultural country of unsurpassed fertility.

The water of all these lakes, coming from springs, is cold and clear to a remarkable degree. For the most part, their shores are made of a fine gravel shingle ; and their bottoms, which are visible at a great depth, are composed of white sand, interspersed with granite boulders. Their banks, with few exceptions, are bold. A jaunt upon them affords almost every variety of scenery — bold escarpments and overhanging cliffs, elevated peaks, and gently-sloping shores, with occasional strips of meadow land between, affording magnificent views of the distant prairies and openings.

The Blue Moukds are two conical hills, about one mile apart, one in Iowa, and one, the largest, in Dane county, twenty-five miles Avest of Madison, and twelve miles south of the Wisconsin river.

On the western line of Dane county, the highest peak rises to an altitude of 1,931 feet above the sea, and 1,072.5 above the lakes at Madison. Going west from the city, the visitant passes successively across the out-crop of every principal geological deposite in the state. He ascends from the upper layers of the lower or Potsdam sandstone, across the lower magnesian, the upper or ferruginous sandstone, the blue fossiliferous limestone, the upper magnesian or lead-bearing rock, and ends upon the crest on a layer of some four hundred feet thickness of hornstone — a sharp, siliceous deposit filled with chest nodules, flint and fossilizations. The mounds of all this

FOUB LAKE COUNTBY OF WIS CONS IN. 17

region owe tlieir origin to erosion, and not elevation. They are the outliers of an ancient world — land-marks of ages too remote to be computed by years — boundaries which remain to prove the existence of a former surface over all southern Wisconsin, of which in the lapse of epochs more than six hundred feet have been dissolved and carried away by the action of the elements. The Blue Mounds being the highest, dominate all others. Sharp cut valleys and ravines radiate from their hoary sides in nearly every direction. Springs break out along the margins of the successive layers, and streams run to the four points of the compass. It is the source and parent of river and rivulet, seamed by many a scar, but beautiful and grand from every point of observation.

The elevation of the mounds is such, that they can be seen fifteen to twenty miles distant. The Indian name is Mu-chawa-ku-nin, or the Smoky Mountains, applied to them, it is said, on account of their summits being usually enveloped in a blue haze. The following is a geological section of the eastern mound, as reported by Dr. Locke:

Feet.

Corniferous rock forming the peak of the mound, . - - 410

Geodiferous Lime rock or lead bearing rock, . - - 169

Saccharoid Sandstone, - - - - - - 40

Alternations of Sandstone and Limestone, _ . - 188

Lower Limestone at the level of the Wisconsin, - - - 190

Total, - - - - - - - i>ooQ

— Lapham^s History of Wisconsin.

In the month of May, 1829, Hon. James Duane Doty, * Judge of the U. S. Court, Hei^ry S. Baird and Morga]^- L. Martiit Esqrs, attorneys of Green Bay, performed a journey to Prairie du Chien on horseback. These gentlemen had in 1825, '26, '27 and '28 taken the same trip by water, by the way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, which was then the usual and only

* For an interesting paper on the "Life and Public Services of Gov. Doty," by ,Gen. A. G. Ellis, see Collections State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. 5, p. 369-377.

mode of communication between the two places. At the time above alluded, to they were anxious to obtain a knowledge of the country outside of this route, and of which no one had previously written. They were accompanied by a Menomonee Indian as guide who led or rode a pack horse. Their route was not a direct one, as the Indian was not well acquainted with the country west of Lake Winnebago, following the Indian trails as far as practicable, they traveled on the east side of that Lake to Fond du Lac, thence by way of Green Lake to the Four Lakes, crossing the outlet between the Second and Third Lakes, the site of Madison, the Blue Mounds, Dodgeville, and crossed the Wisconsin about six miles above its confluence with the Mississippi. They were about seven days in making the journey, and saw no white people until they reached Blue Mounds. This was the first party of whites that had attempted and accomplished the land journey from Green Bay to the Mississippi.

Attracted doubtless by the beauty of the location, as well as other considerations, Judge Doty made another excursion to this place in 1832, after the termination of the Black Hawk war. It was very evident that with his usual foresight he was impressed as was Col. Brigaam with its desirability for a future town.

The year 1832 was memorable for the war of the Sacs and Foxes under Black Hawk against the whites, and as Blue Mounds and the Four Lake Country were intimately connected with the movements of the army and the flight of the Indians, it will be necessary to give a statement of the events occurring at that time as far as these localities were concerned.

In the spring of that year (1832) the Winnebagoes were professedly friendly, but they could not be depended on in case of reverses from the Sacs and Foxes. To guard against surprise, Col. Beigham and the settlers in the vicinity of the Blue Mounds, built a block house in a commanding position on the prairie near the mounds, and about a mile and a half from the Colonel's residence. The buildings were commenced May 10, and completed about the 24:th, and consisted of two block houses each about twenty feet square and a log building in the centre about tliirty feet by twenty feet large for a store bouse and barrack. The whole was enclosed by a picket fence of about one hundred and fifty feet on each of the four sides — the pickets were of stout oak about sixteen feet high, planted about three feet in the ground. James Aubrey had the first command of the men assembled at the fort; E. Beouchard, 1st Lieutenant, and after Aubrey's death, succeeded to the command until June 14 when he resigned and was succeeded by Capt. JoHi^ Shermai^. On the 6th of June, Aubrey was killed as will presently be noticed; at this time there were in the fort, the families of all the settlers in the neighborhood, as no one knew how long they would be free from attack.