.
A collection of documents
about Reserve, Wisconsin compiled from historical books as listed here:
H.R.
Schoolcraft' Memoirs (Chapter 39)
The next morning (Aug. 5,
1831) we crossed the portage at Lac du Gres (Grindstone) before sunrise.
This is the origin of the northwest fork of Chippewa River. The atmosphere
was foggy, but, from what we could see, we thought the lake pretty.
Pine on its shores, bottom sandy, shells in its bed, no rock seen in place,
but loose pieces of coarse gray sandstone around its shores.
The outlet of this lake
proved to be the entrance into Ottawa Lake-the Lac Court Oreilles of the
French-a fine body of water some ten miles long. It was still too
foggy on reaching this point to tell which way to steer. A gun was
fired; it was soon answered by Lieut. Clary and Mr. Woolsey from the opposite
side of the lake. The sound was sufficient to indicate the course,
and we crossed in safety, rejoining our party at the hour of early breakfast.
We found all well.
OTTAWA LAKE. - We were received
with a salute from the Indians. I counted twenty-
eight canoes turned up
on the beach. Mozojeed and Waubezhais, the son of Miscomoneto (or The Red
Devil), were present. Also Odabossa and his band. The Indians
crowded down to the beach to shake hands. I informed them, while
tobacco was being distributed, that I would meet them in council that day
at the firing of three guns by the military.
COUNCIL. - At eleven o'clock
I met the Indians in council. The military were drawn up to the best
advantage, their arms glittering in the sun. My auxiliaries of the
Michico-
Canadian stock and the
gentlemen of my party were in their best trim. We occupied the beautiful
eminence at the outlet of the lake. The assemblage of Indians was
large, but I was struck by the great disproportion, or excess, of women
and children. Mozojeed, the principal man, was a tall, not portly, red-mouthed,
and pucker-mouthed man (He was named by the Indians from these two traits)
with an unusual amount of cunning and sagacity, and exercising an unlimited
popularity by his skill and reputation as a jossakeed, or seer. He
had three wives, and, so far as observation went, I should judge that most
of the men present had imitated his voluptuous tastes and apparently lax
morals. He had an elaborately-built jaunglery, or seer's lodge, sheathed
with rolls of bark carefully and skillfully united, and stained black inside.
Its construction, which was intricate, resembled the whorls of a seashell.
The white prints of a man's hand, as if smeared with white clay, was impressed
on the black surface. I have never witnessed so complete a piece
of Indian architectural structure, nor one more worthy of the name of a
temple of darkness.
This man, who had effectually
succeeded to the power and influence of Miscomoneto (or the Red Devil),
had been present at the treaty of Prairie du Chien, in 1825, and heard
Gens. Clark and Cass address the assembled Indians on that memorable occasion.
I had been in communication with him there. He was perfectly familiar
with the principles of pacification advanced and established on that occasion.
It was the more easy for me, therefore, to revive and enforce these principles.
WAR PARTY. - Mozojeed's
son was himself one of Seenabe's leaders in the war Party, and was now
absent with the volunteers which he had been able to raise in and about
the Ottawa Lake village. He was directly implicated in this movement
against the Sioux. Mozojeed's village was, in fact, completely caught almost
in the very act of sending out its quota of warriors. They had, but a short
time before, marched to join the main party at Rice Lake on the Red Cedar
Fork of the Chippewa. He felt the embarrassment of his position,
but, true to the character of his race, exhibited not a sign of it in his
words or countenance. Stolid and unmoved, he pondered on his reply.
Divested of its unnecessary points and personal localisms, this speech
was substantially as follows:
MOZOJEED'S SPEECH. - "Nosa.
I have listened to your voice. I have listened to it heretofore at Kipesaugee
(Prairie du Chien - 1825). It is to me the voice of One that is strong
and able to do. Our Great Father speaks in it. I hear but one
thing. It is to sit still. It is not to cross the enemies lines.
It is to drop the war club. It is to send word of all our disputes to him.
"Nosa. This is wise.
This is good. This is to stop blood. But my young men are foolish.
They wish to go on the warpath. They wish to sing triumphs. My counsels
too are weak and as nothing. It seems like trying to catch the winds
and holding them in my fists, when I try to stay their war spirit.
How shall we dance? How shall we sing? These are their words.
"Nosa. I do not lift
the war-club. My words are for peace. I helped to draw the lines
at Kipesaugee six years ago. I will keep them. My advice to
my people is to sit still. You have shown, by bringing your flag
here and hoisting it with your own hands in my village, that you are strong,
and able, and willing. You are the Indian's friend. You encourage
us by this hard journey through our streams-when the waters are low.
You have spied us out and see how we live, and how poor we are."
Waubezhais, the son of Miscomoneto,
and bearing his medal and authority, then spoke, responding frankly.
Odebossa, of the Upper Pukwaewa, spoke also favorably to my object, and
thanking me for my visit to his village on the Namakagun, which he said,
metaphorically, "had rekindled their fires, which were almost out."
All agreed that the waters
were too low to go to the Lac du Flambeau, and that my proposed council
with the Indians at that point must be given up or deferred. Besides, if
the war party on the Red Cedar or Folavoine Fork of the Chippewa was to
be arrested, it could only be done by an immediate move in that direction.
I therefore determined to
leave Ottawa Lake the same day. I invested Mozobodo with a silver
medal of the first class, and a U. S. flag. Presents of ammunition,
provisions, iron works, a few dry goods, and tobacco were given to all,
and statistics of their population and of their means taken. For
a population of eighteen men, there were forty-eight women and seventy-one
children. Thirteen or fourteen of the latter were Mozojeed's.
Red Devil's son's band numbered forty-nine men, twenty-seven women, and
forty-six children. Odabossa's village consisted of eighteen men,
thirty-eight women, and seventy-one children-making 406 souls, who were
chiefly assembled at this point.
TECUMSEH. - I snatched this
piece of history. During the late war Tecumseh's messages reached
this place, and produced their usual effect. The Indians seized the
post, took the goods, and burnt the building occupied as a place of trade.
Mr. Corbine, having notice from friendly Indians, escaped with Ms men to
St. Mary's. This post stood opposite the outlet, being on the present
site of Mozojeed's village.
MOZOJEED's LODGE - This
fabric is quite remarkable, and yields more comforts and conveniences than
usual. It has also the mysterious insignia of a prophet. The
faces of four men or gods are carved at the four cardinal points.
A hole with a carved image of a tles. At his official lodge men are
painted joining hands. A bundle of red sticks lies in one corner.
From
Dr. David Owen - 1848 Geology of the Chippewa Land District.
This is the character of
the river to within six to eight miles of the Lac Courte Oreilles.
There the country becomes more open; the dense pine forest gives place
to a more stunted growth of evergreens and aspen. A few hills of
drift appear in sight; one of these measured one hundred and twenty feet
above the level of the river. The general face of the country, however,
for four or five miles before reaching the lake, is very little elevated
above high water mark, and it supports only such growths as flourish in
swampy ground. A few stunted and half decayed pines were the only
trees visible.
At Corbin's Trading Post,
near the entrance of Lac Courte Oreilles, the banks are elevated twelve
to fourteen feet above the level of the lake, and the height beyond, inhabited
by the chief of the tribe that resides in the vicinity of the lake, is
still higher, about twenty feet. This spot presented a fine appearance
at the time we visited the place, in June, the green slope extending down
to the edge of the water. All the elevated land around this lake
is composed of drift, in which sand is the predominating ingredient.
It is said, that between
the upper and lower rapids of the Courte Oreilles River, a copper boulder
weighing more than one hundred pounds, was found by the Chippewa Indians;
this was probably an erratic mass.
The lake has a very narrow
entrance; the channel is only some twelve or fifteen feet wide. The
greatest length of the lake is said to be nine miles from northeast to
southwest. Its waters are clear and not colored brown, like those
of the Courte Oreilles and the Chippewa Rivers.
From the lake we passed
by a very narrow channel, through water lilies and bulrushes, into Lac
Grit or Grindstone Lake.
From
the book Carver's Journals (pages 127-129)
June 22, 1767… Arrived at
the Chippewa town (at Lac Courte Oreilles). After we left the plains
till we came to this town for upwards of an hundred miles is a most dreary
wilderness of trees of timber of all sorts, but principally birch and uneven
land, though no mountains, all of the way from the Mississippi. Here
is hardly any game except for a few deer. This town stands on a neck of
land where a small channel of about 10 rods between two small lakes.
The channel is about 4 rods wide and runs very swift. Their houses
stand on either side of this junction. These lakes are called by some the
Ottawa Lakes and by others Lakes of ye Deserts.
June 23, 1767… Held a counsel
with the chiefs of this town at which Captain Tute gave a belt and several
presents, and some strings of wampum to the captain of the warriors to
prevail with him to rest peaceable in his town, for on our arrival we were
informed he was about to set off with a war party against the Naudowessee,
but they promised us they would rest quiet in their village. Our
coming at this juncture was very happy for us on two accounts, first because
if these parties had met us before we arrived to their village undoubtedly
they would have fallen upon us as their customs is to fall on all parties
they light of as I mentioned before. The second is that if this party of
warriors had gone and fallen upon the Naudowessee or any other nation in
alliance with the English and they had known of our party passing that
way they would most certainly be jealous that we had prompted them to go
against them. This with bad people among them might put very bad
things in their heads against the English.
June 24, 1767… This day
the chiefs of this town called a counsel. Their speaker made a long speech
in which he on behalf of his whole people thanked us in that we had shown
them much charity as to call and see them in their town, we being the first
white people they had seen there. Likewise thanked us for the presents,
and made particular remarks on what they called my goodness in advising
and keeping the Naudowessee while I was with them last winter from sending
war parties against them, as they said they had been informed of what I
had said to them while I was there (St. Anthony Falls).
This town contains about
15 houses and about 70 warriors. On our arrival we were received with a
great demonstration of joy. On seeing the pipe of peace as we approached
the town they fired off all their pieces and put fire to a large (parcel)
of powder they had put into something hollow in the ground, which made
a great noise and explosion.
June 29, 1767… This day
took our departure from this town…
From
the book Carver's Journals - Goddard's Journal (page 189)
Thirty leagues of this river
(Chippewa) is a strong regular current, and fine land about thirty leagues
is rocky and the rapid with several carrying places; the navigation is
so difficult that few traders attempt it: it has a communication by several
carrying places with La Pointe in Lake Superior; however we took a small
branch of a river (Couderay) to the southwest, in order to visit an Indian
village on Lake Ottawa (Lac Courte Oreilles), so called from one of the
Ottawas being buried there.
The Indians of this town
are looked upon by traders to be the worst Indians in the country, and
it's my opinion they really are so. The town consists of 60 warriors;
the chiefs of the town are Andickweas, Megose and Ochick; the war chief
Acopewine, who was our pilot; they live in continual fear, being so near
the Sioux nation. They raise within these few years sufficient corn &
such for themselves: we stayed 6 days at this town; made them considerable
presents, and got some of the young people to help us over two carrying
places (Lac Courte Oreilles to Namekagon Portage).
1915
Map of Reserve from the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History
Survey Bulletin No. XLIV Economic Series No. 19 Published in 1915 by the
State of Wisconsin
Mineral Land Classification
Showing Indications of Iron Formations in parts of Ashland, Bayfield, Washburn,
Sawyer, Price, Oneida, Forest, Rusk, Barron and Chippewa Counties
.
