Trading Post Oak - May 25, 1832

[Larry Koschkee]

173 years ago, on the 25th of May 1832, Col. Henry Dodge and Col. Henry Gratiot accompanied by two companies of mounted militia met with several principle Winnebago leaders to determine the Winnebago alligence - either pro Black Hawk or pro U. S. The council was located on the northwest side of Fourth Lake (Lake Mendota) in present day Dane County Wisconsin. Some historians and researchers have indicated it was at White Crow's village. That may be plausible with incontrovertible evidence yet to be found.

The Four Lakes Council meeting report, published in Whitney, pps 454-455 does not indicate White Crow was present. It seems strange that a significant meeting was held at White Crow's village and White Crow was not there. Where then, if not at a Winnebago village, where was the council? Wallace Rowan's fur-trading post.

Rowan's trading post was strategically located about 3/4 a mile north of a small stream called Pheasant Branch near a good source of potable water, Livesey Springs and adjacent to the Military trail between Fort Crawford and Fort Winnebago. (Military trail - not Military Road. The Military Road had not been laid out and improved until 1835).

I have had this site in my historical research cross hairs on more than one occasion. First, while following BHW message board member, L. G. Jones, alias, Kaxiskaga (White Crow) interpretation of Black Hawk's trail thru present day Madison and secondly while researching a BHW heroine.

What strikes me about this trading post is the fact Black Hawk's trail and camp site was very close by, yet there is no indication that it was raided and plundered. On the other hand there is no evidence, I have found, that Rowan was a Black Hawk sympathizer.

A bronze plaque and an old red oak tree marks the site today. The big red oak called "The Trading Post Oak" is a remarkable living monument to Wisconsin's colorful history.

Post Script - Rowan sold his property to a metis, Michael St Cyr who later sold to James Doty, a territorial governor. Doty built a hunting lodge, that still stands today and is occupied as a private residence.

Location of the lodge and oak tree is 3117-3119 Waconia Lane, Middleton, Wisconsin.

[Robert Braun]

Excellent post-- thank you!

I was wondering if this same location was passed by BH and his followers on the morning of July 21 as they continued west towards the Wisconsin River?

Any thoughts on this location?

Regards, Bob Braun

[Larry Koschkee]

Hello, Bob.

To answer your questions... I did touch briefly on the topic in the 5th paragraph of my post.

I have not done any distance calculations todate, but I would suggest, the distance between Black Hawk's trail and or campsite on July 21 was very close to the trading post. As a trader among the Winnebago in that vicinity, I would believe Mr. Wallace Rowan had informants keeping him informed of Black Hawk's movement and knew when Black Hawk and followers were heading in his direction, when they stopped and when they left the area for the Wisconsin Heights.

In addition to Rowan, there was at least one other white trader conducting business at the Four Lakes at the time of BH's movement thru the immediate area. As mentioned before, I have not found evidence of BH bothering any trader at the Four Lakes.

Best regards,

Larry

[Robert Braun]

Not "bothering white traders" would indeed be consistant with how BH conducted most of his movements though Illinois and the future state of Wisconsin. Despite American outrage at the numerous depredations committed in the region, few can be ascribed to Black Hawk's band of followers.

My next ignorant question is: the metal plaque you mentioned-- was this the WHS plaque erected on the occasion of the state sesquicentennial? Numerous new plaques were erected from grant money obtained for this purpose: among them Dodge's home south of Dodgeville, and the revised sign at Wisconsin Heights. I read that such a plaque was indeed erected near Pheasant Branch...

Adjusting my reading glasses for fuuture posts...

Bob

[Larry Koschkee]

Sources indicate the bronze tablet/stone was placed at the site by the Wisconsin Archaelogical Society prior to 1930.

The inscription reads:

Site of the Rowan-St Cyr fur-trade post

1832-1837

Site of city of Four Lakes

Colonel Henry Dodge met

Winnebago Indians here

In council May 25, 1832

Larry

[Robert Braun]

Well, now you've piqued MY interest ! I now feel a need to trek out there to see this area.

The marker you describe is clearly not the WHS marker erected during the state sequcentennial. I KNOW I recall reading about one being put up at/near Pheasant Branch.

Great thread...!

Bob Braun

[pshrake]

Wallace Rowan was one of the first settlers to the Baraboo area. This article by Louise Kellogg on his life, including his activites in the BHW was recently transcribed by a volunteers here at the Society.

Pete


Wallace Rowan, An Early Resident of Baraboo was a Typical Badger Pioneer
By Dr. Louise P. Kellogg,
State Historical Society , Madison

Baraboo Weekly News
Thursday July 29, 1926

We think of Wisconsin as an agricultural state, and seldom remember that it’s American origins resulted from a mining “rush”, which brought to its borders in the late twenties and early thirties of the last century a group of restless adventures from many states, but largely from the central and western south. The existence of lead mines had been known since the seventeenth century, but the opportunity of working these mines in any large way did not occur until after the War of 1812, and the Indian treaties which followed it. The United States government refused to give up title to the mining lands, but leased them on condition of receiving a fifth of the product. In 1822, a Kentucky company was formed to take a lease of the lead mines; and thereafter numbers of adventurers began to seek this region to prospect for ore. There was no define line between Illinois and Michigan territory in Which Wisconsin then lay, so it is not practicable to say who were the first miners to roam over the present state line and dig lead in southwest Wisconsin. The names of some of the earliest mines indicate their origins – such names as “Hardscrabble”, “New Digging”, and so forth show the typical miners’ efforts at prospecting.
The Indian title to the mining region was not yet extinct, yet the miners continued to come, and the Winnebago War of 1827 was largely occasioned by the encroachment of prospectors on lands the Winnebago tribe claimed as their exclusive possession. Among these intruders was Wallace Rowan who sought Wisconsin early in 1827, or earlier perhaps, a prospected in the vicinity of the present Platteville. We have no knowledge of the early life of Rowan, but we can in some measure reconstruct it, from our knowledge of the times and places where he lived.
He was a Kentuckian, and must have been born sometime in the eighth decade of the eighteenth century. The Rowan family was a well-known one, some it is members lived in south western Virginia and took part in Dunmore’s War of 1774. Like so many frontiersmen they were constantly seeking new lands to exploit, and early made their way to the promised land in what was then Kentucky county of the state of Virginia. An interesting story is extant of one Andrew Rowan, who afloat on the Ohio river, en route to Kentucky, landed to hunt, and became separated from his companions and wandered without ammunition of food for several days. Stumbling upon the camp fire of a lone Indian the latter raised his gun to shoot, as a state of war then existed between all white and red men. Rowan presented the butt of his gun, to show it was empty, and the Indian with remarkable chivalry did the same; then took rowan to his camp fire, fed him, and ultimately guided him safely to the white settlements. Such a story of kindness and humanity is a pleasing introduction to our narrative.
Both the Rowan and Wallaces were prominent families in the new home in Kentucky, several being judges, and Rowan county being named for one of that ilk. However, the restless fever of the frontier seems to have burned in the veins of our Wallace rowan since following the example of the Lincolns, he early emigrated to Indiana, and thence to Illinois. The next glimpse we have of him is in the Sangamon country, where he met and married Elizabeth Metcalf, and where three of their children were born. The Metcalf’s were also of pioneer stock, coming from North Carolina to Indiana, and it is quite possible the Rowans became acquainted in the latter state before the trek to Illinois. It is known that Mrs. Rowan always maintained her loyalty to the Hoosier state, and vigorously asserted her Indiana origin, when suspected (in Wisconsin) of being of Indian descent.
What brought the Metcalfs and Rowans to renounce their fertile fields in the Sangamon district we do not know. Probably it was the typical pioneer restlessness, and the imaginative hope of better days elsewhere. Certain it is that they were attracted at an early day to the lead mines; and that the pioneer settler of Platteville, Major John Rountree bought his claim there from one of the Metcalfs who had preceded him. He states in letter (now in the Historical Society’s library) that he knew the Rowans well, and that in the spring of 1827, they were digging mineral on ells Branch near New Diggings, and had by the fall of that year moved to Platteville. The next spring Rowan moved on to Blue Mounds, where the Yankee Ebenezer Brigham had just opened mines and a store. It was probably while at Blue Mounds that Rowan became interesting in the Indian trade. Perhaps he had inherited from his forebear, Andrew Rowan, an affection for the red men, and an appreciation of their essential humanity. At any rate, he found Indian trading more to his liking than lead mining, and soon after 1828 he began his commerce with the Winnebago Indians, which he never wholly abandoned, and which made him a pioneer in new places and under new conditions. All the Rowan family knew the Winnebago language, and it speaks much for their courage and adaptability that this change of occupation found them ready and happy in new surroundings.
So about the beginnings of the 1830’s the Rowans moved into the wilderness to live and build a cabin remote from white faces, close to the haunts of their dusky customers. Whether Rowan’s was the first house built on the Four Lakes or not, it was the first of which any permanent information has come to us; and while the spot may have been settled upon merely for convenience, its natural beauty and its sightlines are some evidence of the probable refinement of its builder. This little log cabin stood at the northwest corner of Mendota Lake, opposite what is now Madison , on the plateau first chosen by Governor Doty at the site of the future capital; later abandoned by him for the land between the two upper lakes. We know little of Rowan’s life at Lake Mendota; the account books of Brigham show that he went to the Blue Mounds to trade, also that he paid his debts in full, and that his purchases were largely for provisions – barrels of pork and flour, fresh beef, salt, sugar and coffee. He paid sometimes in kind – one barrel of fish being entered to his credit. He must have had oxen for team animals, as he is charge for repairing a yoke.
Upon this quiet idyllic life in the woods and by the waters, the Black Hawk war came down like a thunderbolt and swept it away. The Winnebago secretly sympathized with the hostile Sauk, and the Rowan hut was abandoned early in the spring of 1832 when the threat of war made it unsafe. Rowan took his family for protection to the government fort at Portage; and seems to have himself acted as scout and leader with the whites. On one of his scouts across the Dane county plains he came upon the dead body of an Indian and found upon it the watch of his friend and comrade, George Force, of Blue Mounds, who had been brutally murdered a few days previously just beyond the stockade of the Mounds fort. Rowan kept this souvenir of his friend for many years.
War over at last, and the capture and subjugation of Black Hawk having made an ineffaceable impression upon the Indian mind, the Rowans again ventured into the open, and built another home near the lake, the one on Mendota, having been transferred in the autumn of 1832 to Michel S. Cyr, a French Canadian trader with the Winnebago. Rowan first established himself on Monona Lake, on a little point opposite Madison, later christened Winnequah. There he added farming to his trading of necessity, since the Indians were removed early in the summer of 1833, north of the Wisconsin River. On Rowan’s account, on the Brigham’s books are items for farming utensils, and later for men who slept at the Brigham tavern, when conveying the farm products to the lead mines for sale. It may have been this experience that suggested to Rowan the availability of tavern keeping as a means to subsist his family, probably it was, however, the continued influx of visitors passing to and fro from the Green Bay and Lake Michigan regions over the Military road to southwest Wisconsin, that induced Rowan to dispose of his land at Winnegauh and build a cabin on the great road, still within the limits of the present Dane county, at what is now Cross Plains. This tavern stand Rowan soon sold to Berry Haney; and removed himself, apparently in the fall of 1836 to a point on the road near to Portage, and thus became the first settler (outside of Portage) in Columbia County. His new stand was at what is now Poynette, and his tavern there became one of the well-known places of entertainment in the new territory. It was a large, double log cabin, connected by a kind of Gallery; the accommodations were primitive and travelers were fortunate to find a place upon the floor; but while not overly clean, the fare was good, and the pretty Rowan daughters were known throughout the region for their charm and good humor.
Moreover, Rowan himself did not wholly abandon the Indian trade; he took in Archibald Barker as a partner and had trading houses at Portage and on Puckaway Lake. Then as the territory developed, the land hunger of the pioneer seized him and he started prospecting across the Wisconsin, where in the late months of 1837, the Winnebago had been tricked into ceding all their land.
After the Black Hawk War Rowan had met Abraham Wood and they had had several business transactions between them. So it was with Wood that Rowan started out across the Wisconsin to look for valuable locations, and especially for mill-sites. The rest of the story is familiar to you all; the location at Baraboo, the rivalry of the Pecks, the first Wood homestead, and the first mill dam and race. It was not until the mill was finished that Rowan brought his family to this place. Meanwhile two of his daughters were married, and their husbands were aiding him in his business of milling and farming. Rowan was by this time, what was known on the frontier as “old,” being past fifty, perhaps more. After all his wandering, his search for a competence, for valuable mineral, land, water-power, and trade, he was content to remain in this beautiful valley of the Baraboo River, and here is his final resting place. He died in February, 1846; and his wife, worn with wilderness life returned to her friends in Illinois and there soon after died.
Just a common man and a common story, most of you will say. And yet it is not common in its variety, interest, and typical character. A true son of the frontier, Rowan had not only the restlessness but the adaptability of the men who subdued the wilderness, drove out the aborigines and prepared the way for the advance guard of civilization. By turns miner, Indian trader, scout, farmer, innkeeper, and mill owner, he was of the race of the elder men, capable and practical, and at the same time dreamers – always following the gleam, and seeing in advance the destiny of America. In person he was quiet, pleasant, slow to anger, holding a philosophical view of life. Friendly with all men, red or white, social in nature and yet enamored of the wilderness and solitude, he activities contributed to the founding of our commonwealth, and we remember him as a typical pioneer.
Editor’s Note: - The Rowan home at Baraboo was north of the road, near where the highway passes the Indian ford between Baraboo and Lyons. The place was occupied by the late James Hill and family for many years. Rowan was buried on the ridge northeast of the Rowan home, in Baraboo’s first cemetery. The burying ground had long been abandoned, part of the bodies were moved but not that of Rowan. The exact location of his last resting place is now lost.

[Larry Koschkee]

Pete - excellent information on Rowan.

Ms. Kellogg gives us an explanation why Rowan's trading post was not raided and plundered. Apparently he removed himself and family members as well as lock stock and barrel. In addition, if he was scouting for the U. S. Government it shows he was probably not a Black Hawk sympathizer.

One further note: Kellogg indicated Rowan established a tavern at what is present day Poynette, Wisconsin.

"It was a large, double log cabin, connected by a kind of Gallery." This structure speaks to what Robert Braun has discussed in another post on this message board. Braun believes the "Dog Trot or Dog Run" design of twin log pens connected by a single roof construction may have been common on the frontier. My view is there were more single pen log buildings either one-story high or one and one-half story high than the double pen buildings with connecting roofs. I guess this would be a debate for another time.

Larry

[Robert Braun]

larrykoschkee said:

"It was a large, double log cabin, connected by a kind of Gallery." This structure speaks to what Robert Braun has discussed in another post on this message board. Braun believes the "Dog Trot or Dog Run" design of twin log pens connected by a single roof construction may have been common on the frontier. My view is there were more single pen log buildings either one-story high or one and one-half story high than the double pen buildings with connecting roofs. I guess this would be a debate for another time.

Larry

Larry... no debate from me. I agree with you on the predominance of single pen log dwellings in the Mineral District. I think my point was (at least I HOPE my point was) that double log dwellings with the so-called "dog trot" feature were more abundant in this region than has been previously credited.

This is a GREAT thread, folks!

Bob

[Larry Koschkee]

I agree with you, Bob, however I continue to be surprised that the double pen building appears in Lead Region historic sources more than I imagined.

Larry

[Kaxiskaga]

Greetings...

I, first, heard of this grand old oak through an article in the April 16th issue of the Wisconsin State Journal. The article was about various old trees in the area...

"Trading Post Oak, 3119 Waconia Lane, Middleton
The red oak marks on the spot of the northwest shore of Lake Mendota marks a spot where an old trading post once stood and where Col. Henry Dodge gathered 5,000 Winnebago Indians in 1832 to keep the peace during the Black Hawk Rebellion. A hunting lodge on the site still stands." Chris Martell [e-mail]

If a line were drawn north to south at the westernmost extreme of Lake Mendota this site would be less than a half mile if one were to start on that north-south line and head exactly east. But, if I recall the Charles E. Brown notes correctly, the old trails run fairly close to water's edge, which would, in actuality, place one a bit closer. Approximately, one mile further to the east, from the trading post, is Fox Bluff (one of the purported locations of White Crow's village). On a northwest line, approximately two and a half miles from Fox Bluff, is what I understand to be the encampment of the 21st(?) Speculatory on my part, but I would suspect this encampment to be more of a resting spot for the main body while a few went in search of help (food) at these two sites to the east. Also, this Pheasant Branch Rd. site makes sense as modern archeaological digs show a long time Indigenous occupation with a spring onsite. The terrain from the western shore of the lake would be level ground almost at lake level with one ford across Pheasant Branch Creek near where it inlets the lake. Beyond that the ground slowly rises until a somewhat more abrupt rise at Fox Bluff. Pheasant Branch Rd. follows the contours of a ridge running to the north and following the rules of the path of least resistance is undoubtedly the route they took.

Below are quotes from "Stagecoach and Tavern Tales of the Old Northwest"; Harry Ellsworth Cole and edited by Louise Phelps Kellogg, I hope you find interesting.

"...Ebenezer Brigham established himself in 1828 at Blue Mounds, and Wallace Rowan soon after built his rude hut not long after on the western shore of Lake Mendota...."

"The army surgeon from Ft. Winnebago had gone to Madison to give medical aid to the mother of A. A. Bird, and on a bitter morning (Ebenezer) Childs, the surgeon and others left on the trip to Ft. Winnebago at Portage. Wallace Rowan and his family occupied the only house between the head of Lake Mendota and Portage at the time."

"Some places where the travelers were entertained in an early day were little better than wigwams of the aborigines. On the north shore of Lake Mendota Michel St. Cyr, a Canadian halfbreed, succeeded Wallace Rowan in the pioneer cabin where travelers found shelter. St, Cyr could speak English, but was illiterate. He cultivated some eight acres, raising corn and vegetables. A. F. Pratt and a companion stopped at his place in February, 1837 while on journey from Milwaukee to Mineral Point. They found the cabin a small affair, about twelve feet square with a dirt floor, and a Winnebago woman the wife of St. Cyr."

"...he stopped the first night at Rowan's celebrated tavern at Poynette. Merrill was accompanied by Captain Harris who had come from Galena and was returning home. After their horses had received care and the travelers themselves were provided with food and drink, enquiry was made as to where they would sleep. The landlady replied they would be taken care of in the other house--the tavern included two log buildings under one roof but with an open space about ten feet in width in between."

"In 1856 Hugh Jameison erected a tavern on the north bank of Rowan or Powers creek, a short distance from the celebrated Rowan Inn on the south side of the stream."

Thank you,
L. J. Jones

[Kaxiskaga]

I forgot to add...

"Sources indicate the bronze tablet/stone was placed at the site by the Wisconsin Archaelogical Society prior to 1930."

This would have been the work of Charles E. Brown who was head of the W.A.S. in those days.

L. J. Jones

[Larry Koschkee]

L. J.,

Living monuments or landmarks noting historical events are especially intriguing to me. The Trading Post Oak is no exception. While visiting a historic area I make it a practice to look for old trees with the potential to have been living at the time of the historical event. An additional quirk is to examine the immediate area for water sources and pre-Euro American settlement vegetation (i.e., prairie remanents) Do I receive any super-natural feedback from all this? -- No. What I do receive is perspective.

I noted your reference to what may have been the site of White Crow's village at Fox Bluff. I am still not convinced that it is the case, but I admire your enthusiasm for that site.

Michael St Cyr, the individual who bought out Wallace Rowan in 1837, is one of many participants in the Black Hawk War, we know very little about. While researching genealogical leads in Montreal, CDA for a Catherine Myott it was determined Michael and Catherine were 1st cousins. Michael's father Hyacinthe St Cyr was the brother of well reknown Prairie du Chien Indian Agent Nicolas Boilvin's wife Marie-Helene St Cyr. More importantly, Michael St Cyr's wife was Ke-en-ok-ou, a full blood Winnebago woman, the daughter of one of the first chiefs of the Winnebago Nation - "The Spaniard."

Michael St Cyr, served the U.S. government in the BHW as an express and interpreter.

When one looks at all the threads started in this message board, there is not one that examines the role of the metis in the Black Hawk War. These men and women with a foot in two different worlds would be an interesting study.

L. J., thanks for your interesting additions to this thread.

Larry

[pshrake]

Larry,

You are right for the most part concerning our lack of discussions on the Metis and thier involvement
with one exception. In the threads surrounding The Menominee campaign under Col. Stambaugh, several of the officers were from the Grignon family who, if I may remember correctly, are metis.

Pete

[Larry Koschkee]

Pete,

Yes, you are right the Grignon's were mentioned on this board. I stand corrected.

Within this message board we have mentioned other Metis, Pierre Pauquette of "The Portage" and Catherine Myotte, interpreter for Henry Gratiot, however did not elaborate on their BHW participation or background.

I am not certain of this, but Edward D. Beouchard of "New Diggings" and Brigham's diggings may have been a metis. Maybe someone can shed some light on that.

I guess my overall point is there is a lack of indepth discussion or comments on the Metis BHW participants.

Larry