The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-06-16
rHE BLACK HAWK WAR.

wisconsin, n was the only Indian war
fare Of any moment fought in this state.
The brave chief, Black Hawk, was cap
tured, after several days battle, at the
Dells Of tho Wisconsin river, and was
taken to Washington. On his return, it
is stated, some Of his people asked him
how numerous were the whites. He took
them to the bank of a river, and asked
them if they could count the grains of
sand on the shore. They told him that
they could not. "Neither car l count the
pale-faces," said he. He was conquered
and afterwards led a peaceful life. All
this has found a place in history, and I,
therefore, pass it by, with this brief men,
ton.
A WHITE PAPPoosE.
One more Indian sketch and we will
turn to other subjects. The writer was
once attending n store, where Indians
often came to trade. One day several In
dams called to purchase a few articles
There were two squaws Of the party and
three pappooses. 1 always noticed these
little wild children, and to-day, having
finished trading, turned my attention to
them. The two were dark-eyed, mis-
cheivous looking little rogues, but the
other! i ~involuntarily uttered an ex-
clamation of astonishment, for no Indian
child was there.
1 saw a little girl, about three years old,
and from above the little Indian blanket,
and coarse Indian garments, looked out q
fair white face, which even exposure to
tho summers sun had failed to tam
Light flaxen hair, all uncombed, hung
over the shoulders, and eyes Of heavens
own blue looked up at me, with an inno-
cent, childish look. The squaw who
passed as mother to the child, saw that !
had noticed her too closely, and took her
and hurried away. I never saw either
the squaw or the child again. and all the
inquiries I could institute failed to give
me any information concerning her.
In imagination l have built many a ro-
nance concerning this little waif. Whose
child was she2 Was she stolen from a
mothers's arms, who lived to mourn her,
or were her parents murdered by Indians
and the child kept alive2 When she is
old enough, will she not recognize the diff
ference between herself and her compan-
ionsl And what will be the RESULT
A whole unwritten romance lies about
this child of the forests, for other pens
than mine to weave into life.
LAYING OUT A CITY.
Various were the means resorted to by
spectators to make a strike, or 10 "raise
the wind" as it was jocularly called in
western phraseology. Specializing in
lands was a common method, but the
gains derived from this were not enor-
nous, and il was somewhat risky withal.
OF this particular phrase Of speculation
more will be said in another place.
1t must have been a busy brain that
devised the plan Of laying out a city
where not ven a town was likely to ever
exist, and the making Of a fortune from
the sale of lots. So long AZ this dodge
was new IL worked well. and some sud-
den fortunes were gained, but 1t soon be-
came known and was no longer a paying
business. An individual or a company
would buy q piece Of government land
1t did not matter much where 1t was sit.
uated, as more depended upon "cute"
management than anything else. A high
sounding city name would be given to the
place. Then the land must be laid
out into lots, streets run, and a namo
given to each. A public park, church
lots, etc., were not forgotten. The next
move was to have nicely printed plats OK
this embryo city gotten up. A little adj
vertising, setting forth tho advantages
and future prospects OF the place was
done, in the way in which it would DO
likely to do the most good, and glib.
tongued agents did the rest.
Sales wero made mostly in the east,
where men were looking for q chance to
get rich in western property. An agent
would appear, begin talking up the grand
prospects Of the new Western city, and
when he got people interested, cxhibitcd his
plat and sundry paragraphs, purporting
to be taken from newspapers, setting
forth the beauties and prospects of the
new Eldorado, and finally he would offer
his lots for sale, Lots would sell all the
way from fifty to four and five hundred
dollars each, according to the "desira-
bility" of the location, and if an agen.
happened to "strike it rich" he was not
long in making a fortune.
Among these "paper cities" may be
mentioned two, as being the most success
full frauds known to the writer. These
were named, respectively, "Chippewa
City," and wisconsin City" The former
was on the Yellow River, near the Chip
pewa pineries. 1t had, and still has, a
good saw mill, with the necessary shops
and residences for operatives. 1t still
bears the name of 'The City" to this day,
but has not a much greater population
than when it was plated, and lots have
dropped wonderfully in price since then.
Cattle and hogs have broken down the
corner stakes, the streets have grown up
to weeds and grass, and there is but lit
tie to indicate the existence Of a city at
that point.
Wisconsin City was situated in tie
southern part of Wisconsin, in the midst
of n prairie. A circumstance that occur-