Early times and events in Wisconsin

              162   Wisconsin Historical Collections     [voi.ii
lage with the startling news. The cov^ardly Indians followed her a part of the way, but dared not attack her. On her arrival at the village, a party went to the scene; of murder, and found and brought away the dead, and the daughter of Mr. Gag^er, about one year old whomi the mother in her fright had forgotten. The Indians had scalped her, and inflicted a severe wound in her neck, and left her for dead, and had thrown her uuder the; beid but she was fo'und to be still alive. She got well, and arriving at womanhood got married, and has raised a family of children; she is yet alive, and her eldest daughter was but recently ma.rried.
The people had decided not to- occupy the old fort, asi a report had been circulated, that the Indians had said they intended to bum it if the inhabitants should take refuge there. During the day of the 27th;, the people occupied themselves in making some breast-works of the timber about Mr. Brunet's tavern, getting the swivel and wall pieces from the fort, and the oondemned muskets and repairing tliem, and concluded they would defend themselves, eadi eommianding, none otoying, but every one giving his opinion freely.
About sunset one of the two- keel-boats arrived that had a few days previously gone to^ Fort Snelling, with supplies for the garri¬ son, having on board a dead Indian, two dead men of the crew, and four wounded. The dead and ¦wounded of the crew were in¬ habitants of Prairie du OhieUj who had shipped on the up»-bound trip. They reported that they had been attacked the evening be^ fore, about sunset, by the Winnebago Indians,"^ near the mouth of the Bad Ax Eiver, and the boat received about five hundred shots, judging from the marks on its bow and sides..    Thei Indiana
* Ex-Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, in his recent interesting volume ot his Life and Times, thus states the immediate cause of this attack, and which, if true, exhibits the boatmen and voyageurs in no enviable light: That somewhere above Prairie du Chien on their upward trip, they stopped at a large camp of Winnebago Indians, gave them liquor freely and got them drunk, when they forced six or seven squaws, stupefied with liquor, on board the boats, for corrupt and hrutal purposes, and kept them during their voyage to Fort Snelling, and on their return. When the Winnebago Indians became sober, and fully conscious of the injury done them, they mustered all their forces, amounting to several hundred, and attacked the foremost of the descending boats in which their squaws were confined. L. C. D.