The Indians in Wisconsin's HistoryDouglass, John M.
History
The Indians in Wisconsin's History
Douglass, John M.
Indians of North America -- Wisconsin; Wisconsin -- History
Cadillac, realizing the need for some measure to bring these warlike
tribesmen under control, in 1710 invited the Fox, along with the other
tribes resident around Green Bay, to come and reside near Detroit. At
this crucial time, when so much depended on the leadership of a
Frenchman experienced in handling the tribes, Cadillac, probably the
most capable Colonial officer of the times, was sent to Louisiana as
governor of that colony. The new commandant at Detroit had none of
Cadillac’s ability with the Indians.
The arrival of the Fox and their allies, the Kickapoo, Sauk, and
Mascouten, was the signal for trouble. These tribesmen were feared as
well as hated by the other Indians about Detroit. After a band of
Mascouten were attacked by the Ottawa near the St. Joseph River, during
the winter of 1711-1712, the Fox, in revenge, immediately attacked the
Ottawa and Huron at the Detroit post.
The Detroit commandant sided with the Ottawa and Huron and permitted
them to seek refuge in the French fort. Shortly after, the Fox erected a
stockade of their own and made preparations for a long fight. The French
and their allies were reinforced by a large band of Illinois, Missouri,
Osage, Potawatomi, and Menomini. This greatly superior force laid siege
to the Fox fort and the latter soon offered to surrender. The French and
their Indian supporters, however, were now determined to completely
exterminate their enemies.
After a siege of nineteen days, the Fox attempted to escape by taking
advantage of cover offered on a dark, rainy night. They were pursued,
overtaken, and the great majority of them were slaughtered. This was a
victory for the French, but a very costly one, for the Fox and their
allies still had a great many warriors in the forests of Wisconsin.
These, in retaliation, began a war of extermination against the allies
of the French who had participated in the Detroit massacre and the
hunted tribesmen soon complained that their people were starving because
they dared not hunt in the forests lest their men be slain by the
vengeful Fox.
The summer of 1716 saw the first white army ever to invade the forests
of Wisconsin. The Sieur de Louvigny, in May of that year, left Montreal
with an army of several hundred French and a force of mission Indians
determined to compel the Fox to sue for peace. He arrived in Wisconsin
with his army augmented by western tribesmen, and _coureurs de bois_ who
had been granted pardons for joining the expedition at their own
expense. With this total force amounting to about 800 men, Louvigny
besieged the fortified Fox village, situated near Little Lake Butte des
Morts. While the French kept up a fire with two small cannon and a
grenade mortar, they sank a trench towards the Fox fort determined to
mine the place and blow it up.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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