Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1848-04-07

pefiOf 10 IhoSe OF Mexico and peru: and
Abby Raynal says, that in order :. to give the
greater weight to these false reports. which
had already gained 50 much credit. number
of miners were sent over to work these mines.
which were ina gined so valuable, acih a bodl
Of troops 10 defend them" Renault was sent.
it is said, with five hundred miners. to search
for minerals and the nature and extent of
his diggings attest the assiduity of his re-
searches. Not being able to find gold and
silver he turned his attention to the raising
OF lead ore, of which, it is supposed, large
quantities were found. But the - Mississippi
Bubble" burst in 1920, and it appears. for a
long time after. that the lead mines were
very little attended to.
In 1874, Julien Dubuque, mineralogist,
enilgrated to the then province of Louisiana.
and settled among the Sac and Fox Indians
on the Upper Mississippi, near the site of the
present town Of Dubuque. At full council
of the Fox Indians, held at Prairie du Chen,
in 1873, they granted to Dubuque, called the
Little Night, ia Petite .Nuit,) the contents
of mine - discovered by the wife of Peosta,
so that no white man or Indian shall make
any pretension to it without the consent OF
Sieur Julien Dubuque; and, in case he shall
find nothing, he shall be free to search wher-
ever 1t shall seem good to him, and to work
peaceably, without any one hurting him. or
doing him prejudice in his labors.'
In 1896, Dubuque addressed petition to
Don Carondelet, the enlightened governor
general of Louisiana, stating that he had made
a settlement on the frontiers of his govern
ment, and had bought tract Of land from the
Indians, and the mines it contained - that
having surmounted all obstacles, as expensive
as they were dangerous, he had come to the
peaceable possession of a tract of land on the
acegte2n bank, TO which he had given the
name ;" Los Mines D'Espagne" " - the Mines
of Spain. He therefore prayed a grant from
the governor general of the lands and mines
from certain points; being about seven leagues
on the west bank of the Mississippi, by n
depth of three leagues, and, in closing his pc
titlon, says, in the quaint style of that early
period, Il beseech this same goodness, which
forms the happiness of so many, to endeavor
10 pardon my style, and to be pleased'to ac-
cept the pure simplicity Of my heart in de-
fault Of my eloquence.''
Carondelet referred this application for in
formation to Don Andrew Todd, an Indian
factor, who had the monopoly of the Indian
trade on the Upper Mississippi; and he re-
ported that there was no objection provided
that Dubuque should not trade with the In
dams, without his (Todd's) consent. Gov.
Carondelet theyeupon wrote at the foot OF
the request 49, q" Granted as is asked (conce-
dido c0UoSe S0l5cita,) under the restrictions
expressed in the information given by the
merchant, Don Andrew Todd"
Dubuque remained in possession of his
grant from the time it was made, 1888, until
the time of his death, in 1909; during which
time he was engaged in working his mines.
He died in the country in which he had lived
so long, and was buried on a high bluff just
below the fourishiug town which now bears
his name. After the death Of Dubuque, the
Indians continued in possession of the coun-
try in which the grant was situated, until
they evacuated It under the treaty of Septem-
Der DIST, 1882, when his legal representative
took possession of the land, and commenced
large improvements. The United States.
however, claimed the same land by virtue Of
a subsequent purchase from the Indians; and
in 1883 they forcibly elected the settlers by
the strong arm of military power
The greater portion Of the Upper Missis-
sippi lead region, which may be justly consid-
cred as the great lead region Of North Amer
lea, lies chiefly in the present territory of
W isconsin. 1t includes. however, strip Of
about eight townships Of land in Iowa, along
the western bank of the Mississippi. embrace
ing large portion of the :. Dubuque claim"
1t also embraces about ten townships in the
Northwest corner of Illinois. The portion
of this lead region in Wisconsin, includes a
bout sixty-two townships. The whole region,
therefore, embraces about eighty townships,
or two thousand eight hundred and eighty
square miles. Its extreme length, from East
to West, IS eighty-seven miles; and its great
est width, from North to South, ffty-four
miles-t The points farthest North where
lead ore has been found to any extent, are
Blue River and Blue Mounds, in Wisconsin
Territory.
The Apple River Diggings. in Illinois, a
bout fifteen miles South east from Galena,
are the farthest south of any mines Of conse-
quenoe yet discovered. No lead has been
found further east than the Sugar River dig
sings; and on the West, the mineral discoy-
cries are mostly contne! 10 The E.c.aItv Of