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 OFIVERNON COUNTY.
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were too few to resist if they would meet them, i I then told them to send two of their best young men op horseback to bring .in the hunt: ing party. They very promptly complied, and ! in a short time the young men were mounted and on their way. I charged the express to carry to the absent Indians the message I had delivered, and to tell Winneshiek especially, that his presence was required at the agency. The chiefs present told me that they thought they would all be here certainly in six days, and probably sooner. I told them it was of great importance to them to come as soon as possible, and bring all their canoes on the river; that if the Sauks should come to that point they were not strong enough to prevent them from taking their canoes (if they did not kill them), and crossing over the river; that should they effect a passage to the west side of the river, at any point above this place, within their country, they would be suspected of assisting them, and if it should be known that they had done so, they would lose their annuities and be treated as allies of the Sauks and Foxes. They promised to start for this place on the return of the absent party and bring all their canoes with them. From their apparent anxiety, I think they will be here in three or four days at the farthest, though they said it might be six.
"The Sioux chief, L'Ark, who. left this place on the evening of the 25th inst, passed Black river this morning before our arrival, and will reach his people with the news (which he re¬ ceived from here) to-day. Having done all we could, we left LaCrosse at 10 a. M.,and reached this place at 3 p. m., making ninety miles in five hours."
It was but a few days after this, the 2d of Angust, 1832, that Gen. Atkinson over-hauled the broken fragments of Black Hawk's army, fatigued, hungry and dispirited, and attacked them on the bottoms of the Mississippi, a few miles below the mouth of Bad Ax river, about forty-five miles above Prairie du Chien, and to¬ tally defeated and scattered them, as related in a
previous chapter. Black Hawk was soon after taken prisoner by a company of Winnebagoes. Mr. Burnett met them soon after the capture, to whom Black Hawk gave a piece of red rib- ron which was tied to his hair.
AFTER THE BATTLE OF BAD AX.
{By John A. Wakefield, 1833,) As soon as the battle was over all the wounded were collected to one place, and, with those of our enemy, were examined and their wounds dressed; there was no difference here between our men and our enemy. The different surgeons did their best for both. They were no longer able to do us any harm, but were in our power and beg¬ ging for mercy, and we acted like a civilized people, although it was with the worst kind of enemies, and one that had done so much mis¬ chief and had taken away so many of the lives of our fellow citizens.
We had killed and wounded a great many of these wretched wanderers, that have no home in the world, but are like the wild beasts, more than man—wandering from forest to forest, and not making any improvement in the natural mind. All their study is how to proceed in the chase, or take scalps in time of war. But, although they are a miserable race of people, and live a wretched life, they are much fright¬ ened when they see death staring them in the face, which was the case at this time. When we came upon the squaws and children, they raised a scream and cry loud enough to affect the stoutest man upon earth. If they had shown themselves they would have come off much better, but fear prevented them, and in their retreat, trying to hide from us, many of them were killed, but contrary to the wish of every man, as neither officer nor private intended to have spilt the blood of those squaws and children. But such was their fate; some of them were killed, but not intentionally by any man, as all were men of too much sense of honor and feeling to have killed any but those who were able to harm us.    We all well knew