Wisconsin’s early territorial period was also the era of the frontier fort manned by the regular U. S. Army. Since the pay for the ordinary soldier was very small, the army attracted men who could not succeed elsewhere, or immigrants who wished to desert at the first opportunity and travel westward. The officers, however, were of different character entirely. Educated at West Point, they were by far the most educated and cultured men in the frontier settlements. With their wives, they represented the cream of Wisconsin society of this period. [Illustration: THE ENFORCING OF LEGAL MARRIAGE (PAINTING BY A. O. TIEMANN).] Wisconsin had three main forts along the Fox-Wisconsin waterway. Fort Howard was erected at Green Bay in 1816, the same year that Fort Crawford was established at Prairie du Chien. Fort Winnebago was built at what is now Portage in 1828, shortly after the Red Bird rebellion. The United States army did its best to maintain peace between the Indians and whites, and to protect the Indians from unlicensed traders, and sometimes legitimate ones, who illegally sold whiskey to them. In their efforts in this direction they often found themselves in conflict with civil authorities who sometimes protected the traders apprehended in such violations. The fur trade continued in Wisconsin while the population was primarily Indian, but by 1835 it was no longer of any significance in this area. Following the War of 1812, the United States Government set up fur trade “factories” at Prairie du Chien and Green Bay, hoping by this means to control some of the evils, one of the most vicious of which was the peddling of whiskey to the Indians. The whiskey was usually diluted with water, and adulterants such as turpentine, or even corrosive acids, added to restore the “bite.” The government entry into the fur trade was unsuccessful. The factors, as the proprietors of the trade “factories” were called, lacked experience in dealing with the Indians. They did not give credit advancements to them as did the other traders, and the American Fur Company applied pressure on Congress to end this system. Gradually this Company acquired the fur trade monopoly in this area; Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee’s famous founder, was one of the American Fur Company’s agents in what is now the State of Wisconsin. The gradual decadence of the fur trade, of course, increased the hardships of Wisconsin tribes. [Illustration: OLD FORT WINNEBAGO (COURTESY OF THE WISCONSIN STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY).] [Illustration: THE SECOND OR STONE FORT CRAWFORD (COURTESY OF THE WISCONSIN STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY).] [Illustration: THE FIRST OR LOG FORT CRAWFORD (COURTESY OF THE WISCONSIN STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY).]