The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1902-06-05
A Local Writer Details Some
Interesting History.
THE TALE IS EXCEEDINGLY WELL TOLD
In Graceful English and Polished
Sentences.
HOW JEAN NIcoLLETTE VISITED HERE.
First Settlers and who They Traded With
Won Over the Indians
Names are Lost.

Between the years 1885, when the IN
trnpid Jean Nicollett visited this re-
gion and 1885 when the first authentic
settler erected his home near the
rivers bank many an adventurer and
maurauder traversed this county, or
erected his temporary abode among the
lodges of the redskin. These Canadians,
often sons of white fathers and Indian
mothers easily gained the friendship OF
the savages They adopted their attire,
hunted and tished with them, learned
their language, wooed and won the
dusky maidens, and became the trusted
confreres of the warriors. They were
often chosen the leaders on the war
path, and some of them became well
known chiefs of powerful tribes.
These men were either u0yageurs, who
were licensed by the French fur COM
pany, or illicit traders known as cour-
eurs du ois,-rangers of the woods
who coursed independently through the
wilderness in search of adventures and
riches. They came from Quebec or
Montreal or in later years from Macki-
nae or Detroit, and were as a rule men
of little learning who kept no records
of their venturesome penetrations into
the remotest regions, carrying knives,
hatchets, iron pots, spears, arrow heads,
blankets fishhooks beads and other ar
icles coveted by the savages in ex-
change for their peltries. They coasted
along the beautiful shores of Green Bay
whose white calcareous rocks, sheer and
high were indented here and there by
protected bays and inlets, and were
crowned by the verdure of untold ages.
They landed at some favored spot, and
soon found their way into the most hid
den Indian village They were joyfully
received, for the savages soon learned to
value the traders goods From village
to village they tramped during the win
ter and found home such as it was,
wherever they tarried. And when spring
smiled again, many of these traders
congregated as presrranged, on the
bank of river or bay accompanied by
many Ind ians, and with a fiotilla of
canoes loaded with peltries they depart
ed from this region; and amid arduous
trials and dangers on storm-tossed lakes,
treacherous rapids and the painless
wilderness, they proceeded to Quebec
where the skins were disposed of, and
the traders and Indians were paid Of
ten they were waylaid by the warlike
Iroquois, and many trader lost his
life at the hands of these vindictive
enemies of the French
When the peltries were disposed of in
the settlements, and the traders were
paid, orgies of drinking gambling,
games and dances followed The earn
ings of years were spent in as many
days, and when the last copper was
gone the hardy adventurer again took
service with the fur company, or with
his own equipment he returned to the
fascinations of the wilderness.
The wild chants of these picturesque
coatmen were heard on many stream
and lake in tLis county, their campfires
glowed in the thickets on the water
sides; the crack of their muskets re-
echoed across the beautiful green val
leys, followed, perhaps by the rush of a
herd of elk, the rise of d flock of ducks,
or the dirthsong of an enemy. When
the missionaries came these traders
gave them hearty welcome.
The names of these early pioneers,
with few exceptions have been lost to
the world. Many died surrounded by
their Indian friends and families, and
were laid away in the rude, unmarked
burial places of the savages. Others, as
they grew older returned to civilization,
too often leaving their duskv wives and
children behind them, and were buried
with the ceremonies of their chosen
church.
Among the earliest of these pioneers
were two, who subsequently wrote an
account of their adventures. Their
names were Rodisson and Groseillers
While sojourning with the Ottowas on
the island Of Grand Manitoulin they
we're urged by a visiting band of Potta
watamies to come to their villages
Ever ready for new adventures the in
vitation was promptly accepted, and the
winter of 1658-1659 was spent among
the tribes who dwelt on the western