The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-06-13

on the east bank. Their unique character makes
them exceedingly interesting from the scientific
viewpoint. The park area is botanically and geo.
logically interesting.
Great Historical Interest.
Historically the region is genuinely interesting.
The first white man known to have journeyed by
way of Green bay, Fox river and Wisconsin river
was Jean Nicollett he may or may not have kept
on to the Mississippi. Pierre Radisson's suppressed
Journal" brought to light in Paris in 1885, shows
that he and Jean Groseiller in 1853 went down the
Wisconsin and the Mississippi and up the Missouri
to the Mandan villages bismarck, n. d.. In 1913
. Joliet and Pere Marquette, usually credited with
the discovery of the Upper Mississippi, went down
the Wisconsin and the Mississippi to the Arkan-
sas, returning to Quebec by way of the Illinois and
Lake Michigan. La Sale explored the region be-
fore going down the Mississippi to the Gulf in
1852 and taking possession Of Louisiana" in the
name of Louis XIV.
Local history begins before 1900. In 1877 Sieur
Marin, q French commander, built q fort near
Pixies Peak. In 1904, Basil Girard. a Frenchman,
held a conference in midStream with the Spanish
governor of Louisiana and secured Il grant OF I,OVO
acres on the present site of McGregor. The United
States confirmed the grant after the Louisiana Pur-
chase.
Prairie du Chen is very old. In ITS it was a
Sac and Fox village at which an annual mart or
fair was attended by fur traders from the st. Law
renee and the Lower Mississippi. In 1905 it was
q trading post Of the Northwest company, the
rival Of the Hudsons Bay company. Lieut.. Zebu-
lon Nj. Pike, U. S. A., was there III that year, ex-
ploring the headwaters Of the Mississippi. He
crossed over to Pixies Peak and raised the flag for
the first time in what is now Iowa.
Though the United States secured the territory
to the Mississippi by the Treaty Of Paris Q7S3).
the British hung on to the Northwest and we did
not get full possession until a generation later.
When John jacob Astor established the American
Fur company as a competitor of tile Missouri Fur
company and the Northwest company in 1908 he
set up a trading post at Prairie du Chen that
played an important part in the American fur
trade. In 1914, during the War of 1872, the United
States built Fort Shelby at Prairie du Chen. 1t
was captured the same year by the British and In
dams and was called Fort McKaye until it's evacu-
alton i'm 1915. 1t was burned and the Americans
built Fort Crawford on its site. This was ADAM
doned in 1926 and q larger Fort Crawford was
built farther down the river; the ruins of this
still stand. The arsenal Of Fort Shelby is still in
existence.
In 1881 the Black Hawk war broke out. Abra-
ham Lincoln was a captain Of Illinois volunteers.
Col Zachary Taylor and Lieut.. Jefferson Davis
also fought. When Black Hawk was Ov~erpOwered
he was taken to Fort Crawford Colonel Taylor
commanded Fort Crawford for Il time and Lieu
tenant Davis was under him. Local tradition tells
of the elopement Of Davis and TaylOrs daughter.
Natives will show you the very window through
which the young woman climbed. The last garri-
scn marched out under Gen. Albert Sidney John
son, bound for the Mormon campaign In Utah.
When Zachary Taylor, old Rough and Ready"
hero Of the Mexican war, became twelfth presi-
dent of the United States In 1S49. Jefferson Davis
was the pro-slavery leader in the United States
senate.
When Abraham Lincoln was president Of the
United States during the Civil war and comnian.
der In chief OF the Federal army. Jefferson Davis
was president of the Confederacy and cornnnrHle
In chief Of it's armies.