History of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens.

              HISTORY OP WISCONSIN.
northern boundary of the United States, was, for the purposes of temporary government, on the 30th of June, 1805, constituted a separate and distinct territory, called Michigan. This new territory did not include within its boun¬ daries any part of Wisconsin as at present de¬ fined.
WISCONSIN  AS  A  PART   OF  ILLINOIS    TERRITORY
On the 3d of February, 1809, an act of Con¬ gress, entitled an act for dividing the Indiana territory into two separate governments, was approved by the President and became a law. It provided that from and after the 1st day of March thereafter, all that part of the Indiana territory lying west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from that stream and "Post Vincennes" due north to the territorial line be¬ tween the United States and Canada, should, for the purpose of temporary government, con¬ stitute a separate territory and be called Illinois, with the seat of government at Kaskaskia, on the Mississippi river, until it should be other¬ wise ordered. By this law, all of what is now Wisconsin was transferred from Indiana terri¬ tory to that of Illinois, except that portion lying east of the meridian line drawn through Vin¬ cennes. This fraction included nearly the whole area between Green bay and Lake Mi¬ chigan and remained a part of the territory of Indiana. When, in 1816, Indiana became a State, this narrow strip, as it was neither a por¬ tion of Michigan territory on the east or Illinois territory on the west, remained without any organization until 1818. In that year it became a part of Michigan territory.
In 1809, an effort was made by John Jacob Astor, of New York city, to extend the Ameri¬ can fur-trade by way of the lakes to Wiscon¬ sin and parts beyond; but the monopoly of the British fur companies was too strong. He could only effect his object by uni¬ ting with the northwest company of Montreal, in 1811, to form out of the American and Mack¬ inaw companies, a new one, to be known as the Southwest company, of which  Astor  owned a
half intererest, with the arrangement that, after five years, it was to pass into his hands alto¬ gether, being restricted in its operations to the territories of the United States. This company was suspended by the war with Great Britain, which immediately followed. At the close of hostilities, British traders were prohibited by law from pursuing their calling within the jurisdiction of the United States. The result was the southwest company closed up its affairs, and the American fur company re-appeared un¬ der the exclusive control of Astor, who estab¬ lished his western headquarters at Mackinaw, operating extensively in what is now Wiscon¬ sin, especially at La Pointe, upon Lake Superior, where large warehouses were erected; a stock¬ ade built, lands cleared, farms opened, dwell- iitgs and stores put up. But English traders evaded the law by sending their goods into the United States in the name of American clerks in their employ. These goods being of supe¬ rior quality to those furnished by Astor, they continued to command the Indian trade to a large extent. It was only when the American prince of fur-traders was enabled to import goods to New York of equal quality and send them by way of the lakes, that he could success¬ fully compete with his rivals and in the end drive them from the field.
At the commencement of the war with Great Britain the few settlers at Green Bay and Prairie du Chien depended largely upon the fur trade for their living, monopolized, as we have seen, at that period, by British traders. At the beginning of hostilities this dependency was promptly secured to the latter by the cap¬ ture, from the Americans,, of the post at Macki¬ naw. Naturally enough most of the people of Wisconsin, limited in number as they were, ad¬ hered to the English during the continuance of hostilities. As to the Indian tribes, within what are now the limits of the State, it may be said that, in a measure, they, too, all arrayed themselves on the side of Great Britain. The Menomonees aud Winnebagoes took part in the