GIS (Geothermal Image)

[Marge Smith]

I discovered a new research source. GIS.

Those of you who have been to Elizabeth and the Apple River Fort know how convoluted this area is, nothing is on north-south, east-west lines.

I knew where the gap was that the Indians surprised the expressmen before the attack at ARF. You can drive into it from Route 20, but you can't see the fort for all the trees. Once you are in the gap only a right turn is possible to a farmer's buildings, away from the fort.

You can drive thru a fairly new sub-division and see the fort, but you don't know where the gap is from there. I went to county offices and got soil maps, old maps when the railroad was still there, anything to better visualize the fort/gap location. But I still could not picture it.

Then, at the courthouse was a office called "GIS". From a satellite photo I can now see the fort, where the gap is in relation to the fort and how the fort sits in relation to the town. Isn't technology grand.

I don't know if GIS will solve other mysteries, you should have section, township, range. I think it cost me $2 or $3 for the copy.

Marge

[Robert Braun]

This is very interesting.

How do we know that the expressmen were suprised at a "gap?" Did the old "Kellogg Trail" cross Terrapin Ridge at a gap or other similar terrain feature?

Thanks... Bob.

[Marge Smith]

The narratives that come down to us about the battle at Apple River Fort tells of the expressmen stopping at the fort and then continuing onward. They were surprised at "the gap" by the Indians. One man was wounded, they returned to the fort which was followed by Black Hawk's attack.

The gap is a level place between two hills. As you exit Elizabeth going east is the first hill. Then you come to the "gap", and then the second hill is called Flintlocks Hill. Then you go to a higher elevation called Terrapin Ridge which is a fairly narrow ridge with valleys on both sides.

I do not know where the Kellogg's Trail was in 1832, in 1839 at the first government survey it follows Elizabeth's Main Street. There is a road called Bethel Road which angles off from the east end of Terrapin Ridge section of Route 20. We know that Bethel Road was part of the Trail. And we know where the Trail crossed Apple River at Georgetown on the west of Elizabeth.

Whether Kellogg's Trail went past the Soulard Smelting Establishment (the fort) in 1832 is still a mystery. It seems logical the Trail would have been close to haul the big loads of lead to Galena. But so far there is no proof.

Elizabeth was platted later and the road could have been moved to accomodate the new town.

Marge

[Robert Braun]

Marge... hello.

A few items here.

My search of the available literature centers on "Bushy" Bill Johnson's account as the source that puts the expressmen in the "gap" you mentioned. Others mention a distance of some 300 yards from the fort as the place where the expressmen met the elements of Black Hawk's force.

Stevens, pp. 185-6, wrote:

On Sunday morning, the 24th day of June, Colonel Strode sent an express of three men, Frederick Dixon, Edmund Welch and one Kirkpatrick, with dispatches for General Atkinson, then at Dixon's Ferry. By reason of the drenching rain falling at the time of their departure, the men discharged their muskets upon starting out.

Arrived at Apple River fort, twelve or fourteen miles southeast from Galena, at about noon, the express found there Capt. Clack Stone, the commandant, with only fifteen or twenty of his command with him, the others being absent on detached service. The women of the post were all out along the river, gathering berries, or else just starting for that purpose, clearly indicating that war was furthest from their thoughts. Pausing but a moment to pass the news from Galena and allow Mr. Welch to reload his musket, the express again started forward and had covered about 300 yards to the east, when Mr. Welch, who had gained about fifty yards on his companions, was suddenly fired on by a large party of Indians concealed in the high grass near a point necessary to pass on his journey. Rising instantly, they were on the point of seizing and scalping him, as he fell from his horse, shot through the thigh, when he quickly rose and fired at his assailants, some fifteen steps away. His shot was ineffectual, his horse fled, and he would surely have perished had not his companions rushed to his rescue and saved him. They had no loads to fire, but used their guns in a series of feints as though to shoot. The Indians dodged and cowered until the men were able to gain the fort, and there secure protection for two of the number. Mr. Dixon, in his frantic efforts to secure the safety of the wounded man, paid no attention to his own welfare, and, though he saw Kirkpatrick slip within, did not consider himself until the heavy timbered door slammed in his face, leaving him to face the Indians, who by this time were upon him in overwhelming numbers. Dixon was a redoubtable man and full of the resources needed in a new country, and without an instant's loss he mounted, wheeled, and
made for the timber, whose hidden paths he thoroughly knew. The Indians must have been more intent upon the scalps of the little garrison and plunder of the many substantial homes of the neighborhood than Dixon, for they quickly abandoned him altogether, but he, on reaching the house of Mr. John McDonald, where he expected certain relief and safety, found it filled with Indians and himself surrounded. Abandoning his horse, he fled to the rear, followed the margin of Apple River, under cover of its high bank, and, after traveling all night, reached Galena in the morning, painfully bruised and exhausted, but not so tired as to prevent his wish and determination to return to the rescue of his friends.

Steven's source may well have been John Flack, whose letter was recounted in Wakfield, pp. 66-7:

About the time the team was removed from the waggon, the ladies of the fort had assembled to go to the river to hunt goose-berries; after starting they discovered coming from towards Galena three men, and being anxious to hear the news from there, they concluded to wait, expecting to hear something about the Indians. When they arrived they proved to be men on an express from Galena going to Dixon's ferry on Rock river; one of the men was a Mr. F. Dixon, the other two I have no recollection of their names. They were all intoxicated , after coming up they recollected that their guns were empty; one of the men dismounted and charged his piece, the other two would not; the man, after loading his gun, mounted his horse and they all rode off in full speed, whooping and hallooing towards Dixon's ferry. When they had got to the distance of about three hundred yards, the one that carried the loaded gun was some fifty or sixty yards ahead of the other two, when a large number of Indians, being in ambush; arose and fired upon him; when he fell from his horse, shot through the thigh; his horse fled and left him; he arose and fired at the Indians at about the distance of fifteen steps, but his fire took no effect as was ever ascertained. The Indians made towards him with their hatchets, when the other two coming up to his relief with their empty guns, they presented their guns, which caused the Indians to halt till the wounded man had got between them and the fort, they kept giving back with their guns presented till the wounded man gained the fort. The firing of the guns gave the alarm just in time for the people to make their retreat to the fort.

Since we know these expressmen were carrying dispatches for General Atkinson, they surely were using Kellogg's Trail to get them to Dixon, IL. It would seem to me that a knowledge of the track of Kellogg Trail, coupled with Flack's mention of "three hundred yards", plus your map information, might indeed provide cooberative evidence for a location of the site of the expressmen's encounter with Black Hawk's war-party.

One final query. You frequenty describe Apple River Fort as a smelting establishment. To me, this says that you feel that a furnace was located directly on the fort site. While there is no doubt that settlements and lead digging was done in the immediate vicinity of the fort site, the archaeology done on the site clearly indicated findings inconsistant with a log furnace smelting operation.

Further, any local trees used for the fort pickets would have been long consumed by the smelting operation. (This was a problem locals encountered in constructing Fort Jackson at Mineral Point.) Would you agree?

If you are going off of plat maps or other land surveys, we would still need to square the evidence on the ground with the maps... and Flacks mention.

[Marge Smith]

Bob Braun--

I don't know where the Kellogg Trail was in 1832. By the time Elizabeth is formed the road goes thru the center of that town.

I don't know what inconsistent findings in the archaeology report you have reference to. There was no search for a log furnace site, only for the fort on the top of the hill. Log furnaces were built into the side of a hill.

I can't answer about the quantity of wood that would have been available except to say that Henry Soulard, the owner of the smelting establishment, had just increased his acreage to 720 acres before the war.

I think you should address Susan Gordy not me. She is the director of the Apple River Fort and her research has led her construct a farm- type site. I bow to her historical expertise.

Marge Smith

[Robert Braun]

Marge, a couple of points/queries--

1. IMHO, the Kellogg Trail piece would be an important part of the puzzle. The information you have gleaned regarding the gap, plus Flack's "three hundred yards" distance-- all coupled with a discernment as to the track of the Kellogg Trail would perhaps confirm the scene of the initial encounter between the expressmen and Black Hawk's war-party;

2. My question regarding your comment in this and other threads:

Whether Kellogg's Trail went past the Soulard Smelting Establishment (the fort) in 1832 is still a mystery.

was, upon reflection, maybe too specific.

Would I be correct in observing that your usage of "Soulyard Smelting Establishment" in conjunction with "the fort" meant that, within Soulyard's 720 acres lay the location of the original fort? (Meaning, in the same way that "Fort Winnebago" meant the land ecompassing a U. S. military reservation, and included the specific military buildings complex?)

Kind regards, Bob.

[Marge Smith]

The gap that exists onto Route 20 east of Elizabeth is more than 300 yards from the Apple River Fort site. But in 1832 I don't know how long the "gap" was.

The first plat for Henry Soulard shows an unusual southern boundary configuration which still appears today on the property purchased for the fort site. It shows a road entering from the west going to a black box (log furnace?) and two houses. Since this land had not been surveyed yet, the plat is described in metes and bounds. I guess you could argue that this smelting establishment could have been anywhere which I cannot defend with any hard evidence at this time.

Marge Smith

[Robert Braun]

Alright... I agree that it makes sense that BH's war-party probably came from the east towards Apple River Fort, and most probably crossed Terrapin Ridge.

And I stipulate that Flack's "300 yards" distance may well be an estimate on his part.

Examination of the Chandler map reveals what is probably the Kellogg Trail, running a generally east-west track. The map is by no means conclusive, but it seems to support your indication that modern Route 20 may well follow the old trail.

Given our admitted lack of knowledge on the track of the Kellogg Trail, and a distance from Apple River Fort far in excess of Flack's recollection, how were you able to determine that the gap seen in your GIS analysis is the gap mentioned by Johnson?

Regards, Bob.

[Marge Smith]

Bob,

I asked older people in the area where the "gap" was.

I know Susan Gordy placed the "gap" ontop of Terrapin Ridge in an article that she wrote. I don't know what her evidence was, but that would have been even further from the fort.

Soon. I hope to continue reading the Elizabeth news in the Galena newspapers. Somethings there is a jewel buried using placenames.

One interesting tidbit buried in Bushy Bill's account. He locates where the Indians spent the night after the attack as being on someone's farm (I've forgotten the name). If you trace that property it is the valley on the south side of Route 20 across from the "gap".

But in other accounts you get the feeling the Indians went north to someone's house on Apple River. That Frederick Dixon surprised them there and he (Dixon) took off running to Galena.

I don't know what to say. One account says they lowered Route 20 in 1915 when they put in the old Route 5. And they certainly changed the landscape in the area around the gap about 15 years ago.

I still say contact Susan Gordy with your "gap" question. She is the professional historian. I don't know what research she has done on the Kellogg's Trail.

Marge Smith

[Robert Braun]

William Johnson wrote:

The road to Dixon led through what is called the "gap" in, or rather on the on the hill in a southwestern direction from the fort. The marks of the old road are still visable [1888]. After partaking of a good dinner, our good natured dispatch bearers resumed their perilous journey. When nearly to the gap, Welsh put spurs to his horse and ran some distance ahead of his companions. On making the turn over the brow of the hill, he had a splendid opportunity of exercising his ability to kill all the Indians in America. At least there was a god chance to make a commencement, as the whole territory in front of him seemed to be alive with red-skins. Instead of killing all the Indians before him, however, he did a much more sensible thing by dismounting, killing an Indian that was dangerously near... and retreated to the fort just on the heels of Harklerode and Dixon.

Apparently Welsh or Welch had gotten into the sippin' whiskey during the mid-day meal, and was bragging that he "could alone lick all the Indians in America."

Regarding your mention of the campsite of Black Hawk's war-party, post-Apple River Fort, Johnson recorded:

[Upon?] leaving the fort the Indians went east as far as what is known as the Rankin or Honeyman farm and camped that (Sunday) night. [The?] next day they proceeded in a northwesterly direction as far as Kellogg's Grove, mow known as Burr Oak Grove, where the monument... is erected.

Where did you say this farm was located?

[Marge Smith]

Bob-

What does Susan Gordy say about the Kellogg Trail?

You were right in the first place to chase that trail down. That is your primary source and would answer many questions.

All of these narratives about the battle at the Apple River Fort only agree on two things - there was a battle and there was a fort. They are only secondary sources.

Marge Smith

[Robert Braun]

Marge...

The two sources cited herein... Flack and Johnson... were eyewitnesses to the events at Apple River Fort. That makes them primary sources, according to the UCLA Institute on Primary Resources' definition:

"Primary resources provide firsthand evidence of historical events. They are generally unpublished materials such as manuscripts, photographs, maps, artifacts, audio and video recordings, oral histories, postcards, and posters. In some instances, published materials can also be viewed as primary materials for the period in which they were written. In contrast, secondary materials, such as textbooks, synthesize and interpret primary materials."

Marge, you began this thread with the statement:

I knew where the gap was that the Indians surprised the expressmen before the attack at ARF.

Rcently, you seem to be wanting to drag Susan's research into the equation... which is frankly neither here nor there. You indicated you knew the location of the encounter between the expressmen and the Sauk war-party. I am only trying to understand your findings.

Bob.