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WlinvAUKKfc, Wis., Sbptembkr 13, 189G 
 
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 HARLEs Langlade -First Settler of Wisconsin 
 
 MONTGOMERY E. Mcl.NTOSH 
 
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Charles Langlade — First Settler of Wisconsin. 
 
 In the n-firiineiU of Cari^MKin-SaliiTi-s an-l tlu- coMipany of Loiibia- 
 wliidi followed tlie tlag of Franco across the sea in the year i(K)5, was 
 Pierre Mouet, sieur de Moras, a young man who bore the rank of en- 
 sign. Tliis young man, wlio founded in Xew France tlie family from 
 which sprang the first settler of Wisconsin, was the son of Bertrand 
 Mouet, sieur de Moras, and he was born at Castelsarrasin, Basse 
 Guicnne, about the year i6.?y. From Castelsarrasin also came La 
 Alottc-Cadillac, the founder of Detroit. A few years after liis arrival 
 in Canada. Pierre Mouet went to live in the Seignory of Nicolet, a 
 forest domain lying on the south bank of the St. Lawrence, at the 
 outlet of Lakf St. Pierre. This Seignory, which was given by the 
 King to Arnold Loubias, the captain of Monet's comi)any, took it> 
 name from that Jean Nicolet who visited Wisconsin in 1634. It 
 passed to Michael Cresse, upon the return of Loubias to France, and 
 the yoiuig soldier from Castelsarrasin, who in i(t6S harl married 
 ^larie Teupin, a native of Canada, went to live in the wilderness of 
 Nicolet. with other families whom Cresse induced lo settle there. 
 
 In this community of ])ioiuHTs, Pierre Mouet. who was a worthy 
 man, spent the remainder of his life, and reared a family of five sons 
 pnd two daughters. He died in 1693. The eldest son, Pierre, was born 
 in i66g, and lie called himself, like his father, Mouet de Moras, but his 
 descendants, who are numerous in the County of Nicolet and other 
 parts of the Province of Quebec, have for many years been known 
 simply by the name of Moras. As a further reminder of the early 
 settlement of the family in this neighborhood, an island at the mouth 
 of the Nicolet river is called Moras. It was customary in New 
 France, at this period, for every family that laid claim to gentle blood, 
 or was particularly prominent, to bestow new names upon all its 
 sons e.\cei)t the eldest, who took his father's name. Sometimes the 
 name chosen was that of a locality in New France or in old France, 
 and sometimes it was an ancestral one. In accordance with this cus- 
 tom, Augustin, a son of Pierre Mouet the younger and grandson of 
 the soldier innuigrant, assumed the name of Langlade, which is not un- 
 common in the records of that time and which a son of Augustin was 
 to make famous in the annals of colonial warfare. 
 
 
206 CHARLES LANGLADE. 
 
 The iiaiiic Langlade is not unknown to ImxmuIi history. In tiie 
 Nouz'clle Hiographic iiciicralc. edited by D'Hoeffer (Paris, iHb2). tliere 
 is an account of Jac(|ues de Lanjrlade, Baron de Sauniieres, wlio waa 
 Ijorn in i6jo and died in io8o. Ho is referred to in Sisniondi's His- 
 tory of Inline. The Wisconsin pioneer is often referred to as "Uc 
 Lanjjlade," but lie called himself simply "Charles Langlade"; at 
 least such is bis signature in the marriage register of Mackinac. 
 
 In his youth Augustin Langlade became a fur trader, and about 
 formed to trade with the Western "-'bes,' he went to Mackinac, then 
 the year 17J7, when an organization called the Sioux Conii)any was 
 called Michillimackin;ic. Tiiere he married an Indian woman of the 
 Ottawa tribe, Domitilde. widow of Daniel Villcneuve and sister of 
 Nissowa(|uet, the most inlluential chief of the Ottawas. Of this mar- 
 riage a son was born in May, i/jcj. and on the Qth of that month 
 Charles Michel Langlade was baptized. The young half-breed grew 
 up a child of the forest, though he had some advantages incident to his 
 residence at so important a post as Mackinac. The Jesuit mission- 
 aries stationed tiiere t;iught him, and he appears to have acquired a 
 better fund of general information than was common to tin- children 
 of I'renchmen born in these wilds, but his educition did not advance 
 far enough to prevent him from being essentially an illiterate man. 2 
 But if his education was in some respects neglected, Langlade had the 
 best training possible to fit him for the savage warfare of the woods; 
 the ritle, the scalping knife and the tomahawk were familiar to him from 
 earliest childhood, and it is related that while yet a child of tender 
 years, he was taken with a war party. His uncle, Nissowaquet 
 (or La FourcheX so the tale runs, had a dream in which it was revealed 
 to him that a certain hostile b.'ind, which had twice offered successful 
 resistance to the Ottawa warriors, could be conquered only by taking 
 young f.anglade with the attacking i)arty. .Accordingly the lad accom- 
 panied the expedition and the Ottawas, inspired by a superstitious be- 
 lief in the influence of his presence, put the enemy to rout. It is certain 
 that even in his boyhood Langlade had a most remarkable power over 
 the Ottawas, and whether this was due to savage superstition or to 
 his natural force and ability as a leader, it was a circumstance that 
 stood hini in good stead as long as he lived. 
 
 Augustin and Charles Langlade visited Green Bay, then called 
 Bay de Puants, about the year 1745.'' Their trips to Green Bay were 
 
 1. T,i>s Caiiailiciis ill' fi'diu'st. .Vokiinwle la:Piiii'iit is iluo to Itonjaniin Suite. Iho 
 (^auii(Uiin h'mtorlHti, for iiifoniiiition roiranlimt r.aiiKlddf's fiimil.v. 
 
 2. Tasso says: "A siipcofanr to I'c'n' Miinniette, pn b:iMy Father .Tnunn.v, gave. 
 him lessons nnd oommoiiced his odncatlon." 
 
 3. rroileriek ,T. Tumor, Th. D., says In Ills mnnoRrniili on "The Olnra' ter a- d 
 Influeneo of the Indian Trado In Wisconsin" that "Abrut the middle of the ei'n'iry, 
 Angnstln de I^jinKlade had made Green Bay his tradins post. After Poitine's war, 
 Cliarles de I.,anglade made tlie plaoo his permanent residence and a Ttt'e sittl'nent 
 grew up." 
 
 
FfRST SKTTLKU OF WJSCoysiS. 207 
 
 irci.iuciU alter that, ami tluy put tliciiisclvcs i>ii a iriciidly lootiiin willi 
 the Mi'ii()ininet.'s an<l otlier tribes, made arrauKcmoiits to receive and 
 store furs, and laid claim to a larne tract of land on the l'"o\ Uivcr 
 
 It was a lol^ely and savayje shore to which the father antl son 
 came. The broad river flowed throuj^h the forest primeval, ami the 
 Indian was still so completely tlic m.ister of the country that the 
 trader, i)addlin,LC on his way, found himself hailed at Little Umte des 
 Morts and compelled to pay trihuie to the ( )ntaK'amies. who. lil<e cer- 
 tain barons of old, claimed toll from all who passed their way. On the 
 east bank of the Fox, so close to the water tiiai ihe rivci j;;::ir.hed a!ji;v.t 
 the door, and laden canoes bumped against the threshold.' the I.;inK'- 
 lades built the first house in the settlement that came to be called 
 Green Bay. A few settlers, mostly half-breeds, jjathered about the 
 little trading- post, but the growth of the hamlet was slow, and in 17S5 
 there were at Green Bay not nior^ than se\en whitx.' families, who, 
 with their servants. num))ered some fifty-six souls.' 
 
 After his arrival at Green Bay. young Laugiatle did not li;ive to 
 wait Ifing for an opportunity to i)ro\e his prowess as a tight ing man. 
 On the west bank of the Fox, hall ;i le;igue from the mouth of that 
 river, stood Fort St. Francis, where Charlevoix and Montigny h.id 
 gone in 1721, and around whose tjak stock.ade the turbiUent h"ox tribe 
 had waged bloody conflict for many years. In 1746 the commandant 
 at F(jrt St. Francis was Captain de Villiers. One night after a supper 
 at which the wine flowed freely, de \'illiers went across the river to a 
 council of the Sacs and demanded ])()ssession of a boy of the Fo.x tribe 
 to whom the Sacs had given refuge. The chiefs discussed the propo- 
 sition with their usual gra\ity and deliberation, and becoming imii;i- 
 ticnt, the high-spirited Frenchman tired his gun and killed three mem- 
 bers of the council. De Villiers paid for this brutal act with his life, 
 for the next moment an Indian shot him through the he.irt. It was 
 considered necessary to avenge the white man's death, and Charles 
 Langlade led an attack upon the Sacs, whose village was destroyed ami 
 the Indians themselves dispersed. As a result of th\^ ,ind lesser 
 affrays, the reputation and influence of Langlade increased, and he 
 became known as a shrewd and bold leader. 
 
 For some years th(? Langladcs continued to journey to and fro 
 between Mackinac and Green Bay. The trade in wliich they were en- 
 gaged increased, but its richest rewards went to others, more cunning 
 and less honest than they. It was the time of Bigot, the intendant. 
 and of Cadet, the commissary gcncrnl, and even on such far-away posts 
 as Green Bay. the oflicial brigands who dwelt at Montreal and Quebec- 
 laid a corrupting hand. Within ten years after the Langladcs' first 
 
 4. "Historic firppn Bny," pnee 0.5. 
 .". Tassp Moninlr. 
 
208 CHAHLf-JS LANGLADE. 
 
 visit, till' tradi' nf tliis |)u«.t li:«| Krown to siu'li an rxtont tliat for the 
 ^)^lr|M^>,t•^ oi KoMTiiiiu'iit tiadv almu'. $iK.o()o" worth ol Mippiii-*. mainly 
 trinkets to gratify tht- Inthan love of tiniTy. were annually re(|uirc<l. 
 Ihc Kovi-rnnuiii cU-alt with the Indians thronjjli thf oltiicrs of the 
 iort. and HoUKainvilU-. Montcaiin's lirave and i-a|>ai)K- aide-dc camp. 
 diTJariMl that of all the K<'"ds sent is nilts from the Kinn to the In 
 dian«, two-thirds were stolen and the rest sold. ".At the post of 
 Green Bay," says I'arkinan. "the partisai' oltirer .Marin, and Ki^aud. 
 the (governor's hrotlui'. made in a dmrt time a profit oi three lumdred 
 and twelve thousand francs." WInle .ill this plundering was k<'''>K 
 wn about them, the I.annlades stuceedid nidy moderately, hiu lluy 
 stood well with the represi ntatives oi tin- novmiment. an<l on the 
 whole ai)pear to have fared better than most of the traders who pur- 
 s'led fortune into these wilds. Often their s.ijourn at (ireen May was 
 attendeil with j,'reat danger, ami (.'harks sometimes had to dispose ot 
 a troublesome Indian by otTerinj; to adjust their dirt'erenccs by a 
 resort to personal cond)at. 
 
 Events were |)resently to call the vouuk trader to a wi<ler 
 held of action. Ilie I'Veiich noted with aitiirelieiision that the 
 Knglish were Raining a firm foothold in the valley of the Ohio. 
 In 1740 Celoron de Ilienville had none tlirouwh that reRion, nail- 
 iiik upon trees tin plates, on which the arms of France wer<' 
 stamped, and burymn in the earth i)lates of lead, inscribed with a 
 ileclaration of the l-Vench Kind's claim upon the territory. Tluse cer- 
 emonies, and negotiations with the Indians, alike pro\inn inelTectual 
 against the l^nKlish, the harrying of the trading posts established by the 
 intruders was begun. On the .Miami River, at the mouth of a small 
 stream now called l.or.iine Creek, was a village of the Miami Indians, 
 where several h-nglisli traders were resident. The chief of this village 
 was called by the I'.nglish Old Mritain. in token of his firm friendship 
 fi r ihem; but to the French he was known as tlu' Demoiselle. The 
 village ilseli the l-'rench called I'lipie Town, a name which. <in the 
 tci gttcs rf ICnglishmen. speedily became I'ickawillany. 
 
 This j»'ace. with its Fnglish traders and its Indi.ins friendly to the 
 enemies of I'rance. was a thorn in the llesh r>f the Canadians. La 
 Jonquiere. who had lately come to govern Canada, ordered Celoron de 
 Bienville to attack f'ickawillany. but the order was not obeyed and La 
 Jonquiere fretted himself to death and was succeeded by Baron de 
 Lorgiui! before a move was made in the ( )hio coiuilr.v. The new (iov- 
 ernor gave peremptory orders to break up the troublesome nest of 
 trailers on the Miami, and the man to do the work was fcnmd in 
 Charles Langlade. Just what l)rouglit Langlade to the notice of those 
 who were directing French atYairs is not known, but no doubt his 
 
 6. "Historic Orei'U Hii.v." pngi- 1>8. 
 
fHiSr Sh'TTl.KH ur WlSCihXSl.W 'A» 
 
 strong and uniwiiiu intliu-iuc over tlu- < )tt:iwa>< aiul ( >jil>ways liad made 
 him more or Ivss known at nil tlu* Froncli posts alon^ tlic lakes; 
 moreover, the Indians amoiiK whom he li\ed (-oii>tituted the most 
 available force ior the purpose.' 
 
 In June, two lunulre<l and til'ty t )ttawa and Ojihway warriors icit 
 Maekinnc, with Langlade in eonnnand: makiiiK a stop at Detroit, the 
 liatid pns-ed on, skirtnin the western shore of Lake I""rie ami finally 
 reaehinji the mouth uj the Miami, up whioh the canoes swar.ned. 
 I'ron t<aym<md's fort Langlade led his force — a Kreased and painted 
 rahhie. in the words of I'.irkman — through the forest stniuniidmn 
 I'ickawillany. The attacking' jiarty came upon the village at about <) 
 oclock. on the morning of June Ji. The Demoiselle was not only 
 sur|>rised. but he was in no condition to make a vinorons defense, nr 
 the reason that most of his braves were absent on their summer hunt. 
 In the IikIu that followed the Demoiselle and thirteen .Miamis wire 
 killed. ( )f the ei^ht white men in the j»lace. live shut themselves in 
 their warehouse and held out lor some hours, when they snrninUred. 
 The others were ciunht by l.;innlades Indians outsidi- the nate of 
 the palisade. The post was plundereil with a completeness that nave 
 kei n delight to the I'rench autlioritiis. and that then' mi>;lit ^e no 
 iloubt of the utter overthrow of the Demoiselle. LauKlatle's wir.iors 
 boiled and ate that douKhty chieftain. "Seventy years of missionaries," 
 I'arkman observes, "had not weaned them from cannibalism." 
 
 This ea^y victory not only struck a seven- blow at h'liKlish ir.idc 
 in the Ohio country, but it j^ave l„in^;l;i(le ureat pristi).;e. both .imong 
 the Indi.-iiis ami with the colonial administration. Duipiesne. the new 
 governor, reiummended him for ;i pension of \\\<t hundred francs and 
 Langlade returned to .Mackinac covered with ^lory." 
 
 I'or nearly three years after his exploit in the ( )hio country. Lan^- 
 l.ule confineil himsi-lf to i)eacefnl pursuits, dividing,' his lime between 
 Mackinac and (Jreeii Ray. Haskinn in the favor of the ^'overnmeut. 
 respected and obeyed by the tribes f)f the lake country, he prosfjcred 
 in his affairs. ;ind the little tra<linj,' post at Green Bay urew in iiuixir- 
 tance. It was during' this i)eriod. on .\unust 12. 1754. th.it l.;m>il,idc 
 married Charlotte .\ml)roi>iiie Honrassa, a youn^j; woman of pure 
 French bln.Hl, Tlir marriage was celebrated at Mackinac'' and Father 
 T^e Franc, a Jesuit missionary, inrformed the ceremony. .Mad.ime 
 
 7. .Viiiinlliiir lo 111- Mm kliiiip icuIhIct. laiivliulo vviim en olli'd ii< n i;Mli>t In lis 
 nrin.v iit Iciist iin I'lirl.v ns 17.'><>. 
 
 .S. In I'lirkiiiiiirs m lutint of iln- iilTiilr nt I'lokiiwlllnii.v, Dliqupsi o 's qimtf I »i 
 xn.vInK of IjimuIikIc: "\h 1ii> Ik nut in tin' Kliii:'!* scrv'fp. mil Ins niiirilf I n fqiiuv. 1 
 will iisk for hlni onl.v a pcnylin nf "i-.o rrnic!', wlilcli «ill I'liidT I lin nfliltili." 
 Miititfiilni mill Wiilfi'. Vdl I., pntrc HT,. 
 
 I>. Till' (iilLMmn Mi'innir siiys .Munirciil. I ut tie .\rn<'kt<iflr rrc nl* nniiin tl« 
 reKlRtry of lli<> rnnrrliinf. 
 
310 LHARLKS LASULADK. 
 
 i-aiiKlaclc iipin';u> U> ha\(.' Iki-ii lar liiisl)aiul\ Mipirinr in ri'liiKnicut 
 ami I'diication. Slic was tlic ilaiiKlitt-r of Ri-iie Hutirassa, a retired voy^ 
 iiK^'iir, and iraditinii in-dits Ikt with uncoinniDii uraci-s ot pciM)!! and 
 iiniia'iilit.\ <>\ tliarailiT '" TIk' .^anic ri-cnrd tliat ^ivcs us tl)i' d.itc ot 
 J.ani;Ia<li''s nianiaKi' hears witiu-s", to iIk- existemr of Indian slavery 
 al that tune, for it appears that in Novcmher. 173J, l-atliir I.e I'rane 
 luiilid Ml MMriia^e (.'harks, slave of Sieiir Uoiirassa. and Marie, slave 
 pl Charles I„anKla<le. 
 
 l.t'MV'Iade's Imneynioon wa^ Itardly over when he- was a^jain snin- 
 IMoned to raise the trihes and take the war-path against the I'linlish. 
 'I'he v.on iet whieh had hei.nin ni attacks on remote trading posts had 
 now liecoiiH' jreneral, and Hra hloek was on his way with a force of 
 Hriti^h rettiilar- to attack lM)rt Dmiuesne, which had heen hiiiit by the 
 l*"rincli where the Allegheny and the .MotninKahela nnite to form the 
 Ohio Kiver. Langlade asseinl)led a mnch larger force than the one 
 which he had led against the Demoiselle three years l)cfore. and a^ain 
 the llotilla of canoes came down the lakes, m,iMne(l hy a motley crew, 
 mostly Pottawattomies, ( )ttawas and ()jil)ways. 
 
 Amonj? the men who served in tiiis expedition were several whose 
 names are jiarticnlarly associated with Wisconsiit history, inchidinn 
 Gautier do \'erville, .\n)ahle de Gere and .Machar, the last named a 
 man from whom many residents t)f this state trace their descent." 
 DnniiK the first week of .hdy, 1755. I-an^lade and his hand arrive<l 
 at I'ort Du<|iKsiu', an<l they encamjied without the walls of the fori. 
 w'ure other Indians from every i)art of Canada were K'ltlH're.l. In all 
 eJKlU htmdn.'d warriors were there, with sc.ilpinu; knife and toni;.hawk. 
 to assist in tin- defense of the place. I.anKlade's hraves are desirihed 
 by I'arkman as "mnnitiKated heathen" and in the s.ime category the 
 histf»rian places Pontiac, who is said to have been there,^". Au^nstin 
 Grinnon. who had the story of the tiKht from the lii)s of Lan,ula<le, his 
 Urandf.ither. expressed the belief that Pontiac was in the i)arty led 
 b> the con<|ueror of Pickawillany. but this is mere conjecture. 
 
 f 'n the Sth of Jidy scouts bron^dit word to the fort that Braddock 
 was not more than d.^hteen miles distant; on the mornin^r of the <jth. 
 (iuni)owiler and bullets were si-rved without stint to the Indi.ins, and 
 lame-; .'^niith, a i>risoner, lookin.u <l(.wn ironi the ramparts of the fort. 
 
 ll». I'liiliiiiiiii irfii-rt with Miiiii' I oniiinpl. Ill lis 11 ■' Diiiil 111" 111' tlR II lit 1*1 k 
 nwllliiii.v, III 1.miiuIiiiIi''m liiivliit; iiinriii'il ii ki|I|ii\\ ; iiuiilii In ili'-cril'lii.- tlic <' nil il 'f 
 lliilliiiix lalli'il liy Mdiitinlin al I'nrt W'lHliin lli'iiry I Mniiti'illin iii.tl WnlT'. V I I.. 
 )i:iUi> 4.S!>I. till* lilNtiii'liiii sii'IiKm iif liiiliKiiiilc IIH liiivlii^' "li-:'t Ills M|na»' wife a .M r i- 
 lllliiiiii'KliiMi' III Join till- wiir." .\B a iiuitlcr nf fa I IliT' In ii > iiro if I! at I a ik aili> 
 WHH I'vi-r iniiirh'il in a Himaw. II«> jitiil a nam iil smi liy an Ottawa wumiii wlm 
 llvi'il ni .Markliiiii'. iiiiil this Hull liori' IiIh iiaiiio. 
 
 11. lirliriiiiirM Iticolli'itliiiiH, Vol. III., Wis.. Hist. Culli. 
 
 1;;. l'iirl:iii;ili. Minilr.illiJ I Wnl.i'. VmI. I . per 2 :>. 
 
FIKST SETTLER OF WlSCOyS \. tU 
 
 saw the painted savages exeiteilly preparitiK Inr battle.'' Accordiiin 
 to tlic oiVicial records, the party sent out to intercept the British con- 
 sisted of six hiin<lrc(l ami tliirty-seven Indians, tliirty-six I'Vencii ofti- 
 cers and cadets, .scNcnty-two rcKnlJir soldiers and one hundred and 
 forty-six Canadians. The departure from Fort l)n<|iiesne was maile at 
 y o'clock in the niorniiiK and the accounts of what folltiwed vary so 
 essentially, with respi*ct to the part Lanisdade hore in the action, that 
 it is best to kmvc theiii some consideration before m>\< \ with the 
 
 st<»ry of the attack. .Anunstin (JriKUon says that Heauji , the l-rench 
 <»rticer in coiiiiiian<l, lu>it;ited to att.ick tin ICnulish; that Langlade 
 went to him and rcpre>eiited that iii» time xlmiild be lost, but that the 
 attack should at once bej?in; that Heaujeu made no reply, whermpon 
 I.aiii,'l:ide called the chiefs totjether aii<l caused them to <leinaii<l orders 
 to liK'Iit. after all of which Heaujeu reluctantly K^ive the command to 
 attack." 
 
 Another account says that the Indians and not Heaujeu were 
 reluctant to tinht. Tin- iilan to ambusiatle the ICnulish was ado|)te<l 
 on the day before the battle, and I'arknian .says that the suKKcstion 
 seems to have been inspired by Heaujeu, though another olVuer, Du- 
 mas, claimed to have oriK'iaied it.'"' It is further said that the Indians 
 at first utterly refused to march against Hia<l(lock and that it was 
 with great dilliculty that Heaujeu induced them to follow him I'ark- 
 maii. whose .authority w.as the relation of (lodefroy, in Shea's "lUiluUe 
 du Mala\itiucuU\" says that tlie Indians proved refractory and that 
 three hundred of them left him and did not rejoin the attacking party 
 imtil the I'.nglish li.ad crossed the river. 
 
 The undisimted fact is lli.it the l-reiich ami Imlians were three 
 liours and a half in making a march of seven miles, which is sufVicient 
 proof that some extraordinary circumstance delaye<l their progress. 
 In the meantime. Hraddock's army had crc ssed the Mtmongaliela. 
 The soldiers had halted in the shade to eat their dinner and rest, 
 and the Indians, peering betweteii the trees, could see the red-coated 
 f)fticers with nai)kiii- ])iiiiu'd upon their breasts. Whatever may have 
 been Heaujeu's hesitancy about engaging Hracldock. he did not need 
 the stimulus of Langlade or any one else when the moment for action 
 arrived. The vangu.ard of the Hritish suddenly saw a strange figure 
 burst out iii)on the jKith from the dark forest; it was Heaujeu, in In- 
 dian huiiiing dress, and he halted and waved his hat as a signal'" 
 The Indi.ms ami French lired one volley and then jiostcd themselves 
 behind trees and in the dark recesses of the ravines, whence they 
 poured out a tire that demobilized Hr.iddock's men. Heaujeu was 
 
 I.*). I'arkiniiii. .Miiiili'iiliii niid W'lilfi'. Vol. I., | ii':<> 1*0 1. 
 
 U. AViH. IllKt. Colls., Vol. vn. 
 
 in. riirkiiiiiii. Mdtiti'iiliii mill W'nlfr. Viil. I.. inKi' '.'11. 
 
 10. KlnKforil'ii IllHliir.v nf Ciiiiiiiiii. Vol. III., iuikp 471). 
 
91S CHARLES LANGLADE. 
 
 killed early in the fight. Langlade told his grandson that it was his 
 first care, after the rout of the English, to search the stores found in 
 Braddock's camp and pour all the liquor upon the ground. This 
 filled the Indians with sorrow, which they endeavored to assuage 
 by plundering the dead. There was such rivalry for i)ossession of 
 the gay uniforms and other spoil, that two of I^anglade's young men, 
 La Choisie and Rochehlave, contended bitterly for the purse and trap- 
 pings of an oflicer whose body each claimed to have discovered first; 
 La Choisie took the purse, but next mornitig he was found murdered 
 and his gold was gone. 
 
 Langlade has often been referred to as the man who achieved the 
 defeat of Braddock, as though there was no doubt whatever of his 
 having brought about the attack on the British troops. In point of 
 fact, the evidence is very far from warranting any such declaration. 
 We have it upon the authority of the other French officers who were 
 at Fort Duquesne, that when Beaujeu left the fort it was in accordance 
 with a plan, agreed upon the night before, to contest Braddock's pas- 
 sage of the Monongahela. If, as the narrative of Grignon (who gives 
 Langlade's account of the afl:'air) would lead us to believe, the Indians 
 were consumed with a desire to engage the soldiers of Braddock, and 
 had to overcome the fears of Beaujeu, it seems very curious that none 
 of the warriors were so far carried away by their zeal as to find out 
 how near the British were. Braddock's army had forded the Monon- 
 gahela in the bright sunshine of a summer morning. Sup])osing tliat 
 I he enemy would have scouts posted to observe his movements, the 
 F.nglish commander resolved that his men should cross the strc;im 
 in the most imposing array possible. Accordingly his force marclicd 
 out from the forest and into the river, with all the pomp of a dress 
 parade, but it does not appear that any Indian or Frenchman viewed 
 this picturesque spectacle; indeed, there is evidence that the Indians 
 prevented Beaujeu from arriving in time to give battle at the ford. 
 Many writers have referred to the attack on Braddock as an ambus- 
 cade, but Pnrkman points out that it was nothing of the sort. It may 
 1)e doubted whether the English were more surprised than the French 
 and Indians, when the encounter came. It is as well established as any 
 fact in connection with Braddock's defeat, that the man who led the 
 attacking party, and who there is every reason to suppose was Beaujeu, 
 came suddenly upon the English, and that his followers, troop'ng 
 along in a body behind him, fired a volley before they took the pre- 
 caution of i)lacing trees between themselves and the British guns. 
 That Beaujeu was killed in the thick of the fight, all accounts agree, 
 and the statement in Grignon's recollections that Langlade and his 
 Indians had to force the issue of battle is practically unsupported. 
 Finally, the wretched behavior of the British regulars contributed 
 (|uite as nuich to the defeat of Braddock as any other circuiristance; 
 
FIRST SETTLER OF WISCONSIN. 213 
 
 they shot one another, they shot tlieir officers, tliey shot everybody 
 but tlie enemy, and tlieir rout was not the result of any French or In- 
 dian strategy. There were many in England who could not contain 
 their indignation when they heard how miserably the battle was 
 fought, and the condemnation of the troops was general. Another 
 thing to be borne in mind is the fact that Indians have always shown 
 an extreme reluctance to meet regular soldiers under any c(Miditions 
 which do not provide the savage with a moderate assurance of his 
 own person-il safety, while at the same time affording him an oppor- 
 tunity to shoot from ambush, or otherwise take his foe by surprise. 
 On this occasion the Indians under Langlade were marching against 
 a formidable force, which not only exceeded them in numbers, but 
 was armed and equijjpcd with a completeness never before seen in 
 any military expedition which had penetrated that wilderness. The 
 Indians were well aware of this, and from all that we know about 
 Indian character and methods of warfare, and from all the cidencc 
 -adducable on the point, we are justified in declining to believe that it 
 was the impetuous valor of his savage allies which hurried Beaujeu on 
 to battle. But whether Langlade did or did not take the initiative 
 in the attack on Braddock, it is certain that his part in that mem- 
 orable battle, which is called the most imi)ortant ever won by In- 
 dians, was a leading one. That the French reports give him scant 
 credit is no reflection upon his services, for the regular officers 
 were seldf)m generous in their recognition of the colonial troops. 
 It is beyond question that in his lifetime, and immediately after the 
 fight, Langlade 'vas credited with having accomplished Braddock's 
 overthrow.' ' 
 
 When I he news of the battle reached England, Colonel James 
 Wolfe was in garrison at Winchester with his regiment, and the tid- 
 ings moved him to wrath. "The cowardice of the men." he wrote, 
 "exceeded the ignorance of the chief."!'* He went on to declare that 
 he had a mean opinion of the British infantry and said that they often 
 killed their officers and one another in their confusion. Interest is 
 lent to this observation by the fact that, a few years later, troops under 
 the command of James Wolfe were to fare badly at the hands of 
 Langlade, and to escape narrowly a fate similar to that of Braddock's 
 men: A chronicle of that time says: "The European troops whose 
 cowardice has thus injured their country are the same that ran away 
 so shamefully at Preston-Pans."!" A list published in The Boston 
 ■Gazette soon after the event gives Braddock's loss as five hundred 
 
 17. niiiKo.Tiip, DoPoyfitir mid Anbury a'l wi-lte of Langlade an th? man who de- 
 feated Brnddook. 
 
 18. A. G. Bradley, IJfo of Wolfe. 
 
 10. Oentlonvan's .Mngnzino, August, 1765. 
 
214 CHARLES LANGLADE. 
 
 and eight killed and four hundred and seventy-four wounded, a 
 greater number than the whole body of French and Indians. 
 
 Langlade returned to Michillimackinac after the repulse of the 
 English, and three months later, in October. 1755, Captain Herbin, 
 commandant at the post of Michillimackinac, ordered him to take 
 command of the Grand River district in Michigan, to keep the 
 Kalamazoo River open to traders and to exercise general supervi- 
 sion over Indian affairs. 
 
 This tmployment appears to have occupied Langlade for some 
 months, and on the 9th of August in the following year he was 
 ordered by Dumas, who commanded on the Ohio, to set out at the 
 head of a detachment of French and Indians and strike Fort Cumber- 
 land. This expedition was mainly to obtain information of the en- 
 emy's movements, and nothing noteworthy is recorded concerning it. 
 
 A new leader had come to Canada from France, and early in the 
 year 1757 Langlade was gathering his Indians about him at Michilli- 
 mackinac, preparatory to joining Montcalm. He formed a large war 
 party,2o and proceeded to Montreal, where a council was held. From 
 Montreal Langlade went to Lake George to take part in the attack 
 on Fort William Henry. It was the Ottawas. under Langlade's Icader- 
 ship,2i who conceived the idea of attacking the English barges on 
 Lake George, an enterprise that was completely successful, twenty-two 
 barges bemg either captured or sunk, one hundred and fifty-one pris- 
 oners taken, and a large number killed. Langlade was present at the 
 capture of Fort William Henry, and Tassc (who speaks of the place 
 as Fort Geo-ge) remarks that "Unhappily the Indians by some ex- 
 cesses detracted from the value of the service which they had ren- 
 dered to the French army." In making this statement the Canadian 
 historian contains himself strictly within the bounds of truth. The 
 "excesses" to which he refers consisted of the butchery of some fifty 
 English prisoners, seventeen of whom were wounded men. According 
 to the affidavit of Miles Whitworth, a regimental surgeon, and the 
 statements of Jonathan Carver and other eye witnesses, French officer's 
 beheld these atrocities without apparent concern. Miles Whittworth 
 expressly mentions Le Corne (St. Luc), Langlade's friend and asso- 
 ciate, as one of those who. though present, did not offer to pr6tect 
 the wounded prisoners from the tomahawks of the Indians. 
 
 At the close of this campaign Vaudreuil, governor of the colotiy, 
 rewarded Langlade for his services by appointing him second officer 
 at Michillimackinac. with a salary of a thousand francs per annum and 
 the rank of lieutenant. This was in September, 1757, and Langlade 
 
 20. Tlip TiiKM' MoiiKilr Kiiys there were srvenil Inindred Indlnns In this force, 
 the OttnwiiH nhnic miniln'rliij? three huiu1re<l and thirty-seven. 
 
 21. I^ttiTti uf Muntcniin, qnote<l h.v Tncse. 
 
FIRST SETTLER OF WISCONSIN. 215 
 
 returned at once to Michillimackinac, where he remained until the 
 following summer. 
 
 His next expedition took him to Fort Duquesne again, hut we 
 have no particular account of his services there. When M. de Lig- 
 neris. the commandant, destroyed the fort upon the approach of the 
 English imdcr General Forbes, the French garrison had been reduced 
 to two hundred men, because of lack of supplies, so it is not likely that 
 Langlade and his Indians were present on that occasion. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1759 Langlade went to Quebec, whither 
 he is said to have led two hundred Indians from Michillimackinac.22 
 He arrived at Montreal on June 23, and later joined the forces un- 
 der Montcalm. We are told that the Indians who served at Quebec 
 included Sacs, Menominees, Chippewas and Foxes, so the Wisconsin 
 tribes were well represented. 
 
 One of the first movements made by Wolfe, after Quebec was 
 fairly invested, was an attempt to strike the French in tlank or rear, 
 by landing troops below the Montmorenci and crossing that stream 
 some distance above the falls. On the Qth of July five battalions, 
 numbering three thousand men, or a third of Wolfe's whole army, 
 executed this movement with success, to the point of landing below 
 the catanct and climbing the heights, where they began to throw up 
 entrenchments. 
 
 Meanwhile Langlade, with four hundred Indians under his com- 
 mand, forded the Montmorenci, discovered the British troops and 
 sent word to Lieutenant Repentigny that this part of Wolfe's army 
 might be destroyed if he would at once come to the attack with his 
 Canadian troops. Two hours were wasted in waiting for Vaudreuil to 
 order Levis to order Repentigny to fight, and the opportunity was 
 lost. In the meantimte, however, Langlade's Indians, impatient of 
 delay, attacked a body of rangers sent out by the English, and inflicted 
 severe loss upon them. The rangers were driven back upon the 
 battalions under Generals Townshend and Murray, and when Lang- 
 lade's braves re-crossed the ford they took thirty-six scalps with them. 
 
 The record of this affair of ^lontmorenci goes farther to prove 
 Langlade'.s military discernment than almost any other evidence wc 
 possess. Had the opportunity which he pointed out to his superiors 
 been promptly acted upon, it is not unlikely that the force under 
 Townshend and Murray would have been routed, if not annihilated, 
 and Wolfe could never have hoped to take Quebec with his army so 
 weakened. Parkman says: "If Repentigny had advanced and Levis 
 had followed with his main body, the consequence to the English 
 might have been serious-''^"* In a "Dialogue in Hades between the 
 Marquis de Montcalm and General Wolfe," which is attributed to Chev- 
 
 22. ranailinii Memoir, (jiioted liy Tasse. 
 
 23. I'crkniiin. Moiitcnlm and Wolfe. 
 
216 CHARLES LANOLADE. 
 
 alier de Johnstone, the Scotch Jacobite officer wlio served under 
 Alontcahn, there is a reference to Langlade's action on this occasion. 
 The author of this dialofj^ue (which is sin)ilar in style to Lord Lyttel- 
 ton's Dialogues of the Dead) was evidently of the opinion that W 'fe 
 risked the loss of his whole army by the movement. A report in the 
 French Archives says that Langlade's Indians killed or wounded more 
 than one hundred and fifty of the linglish. 
 
 Langlade fought in the battle on the Plains of Abraham, where 
 the fate of Quebec was dccifled, on September 13, and two of his 
 brotiiers, who were with him. were killed in that action. After the fall 
 of the city he returned to Michillimackinac. but the following year. 
 1760, found him in Canada again, a lieutenant's commission signed 
 by King Louis XV. having meanwhile been bestowed upon him as a 
 reward for his services. 
 
 His last battle under the French banner is believed to have been 
 that fruitless victory which Levis won in A])ril. 1760. on the field where 
 Montcalm was defeated the year before. In September Langlade was 
 ordered by Vaudreuil to go to Michillimackinac and encourage the In- 
 dians in their attachment to the French nation, assuring them that if 
 the colony were surrendered to the English, it could at the utmost 
 remain only a few months in their power. Six days later another dis- 
 patch came from Vaudreuil. announcing that he had "decided to capit- 
 ulate with General Amherst, upon conditions very advantageous for 
 the colonists and particularly for the inhabitants of Michillimackinac." 
 
 An English garrison first occupied the fort at Michillimackinac in 
 1761,"* when Captain George Etherington took command there. In 
 the same year Lieutenant Gorrell, with seventeen men of the 6oth or 
 Roj-al American Regiment, occupied Green Bay. About this time 
 Langlade appears to have had his family at Green Bay, for Grignon 
 mentions that both of ihe Langlades. Augustin and Charles, jour- 
 neyed to Michillimackinac, soon after Captain Etherington assumed 
 command there, and took the oath of allegiance. Charles still con- 
 tinued in the offlce of superintendent of Indian afTairs at Green Bay, a 
 post which he had held under the French, and was also made com- 
 mander of the milittia. 
 
 At this time Charles Langlade had by no means severed all ties 
 that bound him to Michillimackinac, for under date of April 13. 1763. 
 Captain Etherington issued an order authorizing the Langlades, father 
 and son, to remove to Green Bay with their families. This permission 
 
 24. In 1761 there were about thirty rnmllles at Port MlrhllUmaoklnac. The 
 fort was on the south side of the strait, wliere .Mackliiao City now stiinds Thero 
 was a stockade of cedar logs, built so near the water's edge tliat nh n the wind wa« 
 In the north the waves broke apninst tlie fort. On llie liastlons were niou'itel two 
 ■mall pieces of brass cannon. Within the stuckode were t'le houses and a church, 
 the character of the buildlugs being deserllied by Henry ns neat and cnmm d'ons. 
 
FIRST SETTLER OF WISCONSIN. 217 
 
 Charles, at least, does not seem to have availed himself of, for he was 
 at Michillimackinac when the Indians massacred Etherington's garri- 
 son, and we have the statement of Alexander Henry that MadaMe 
 Langlade and the whole domestic estahlishment were there also. 
 
 Knowledge of the conspiracy of Pontiac having come to Langlade, 
 lie warned Captain Ethcrington, who could not bring himself to be- 
 lieve that the Indians really meditated an attack upon him, and dis- 
 missed Langlade with the assurance that the rumors of an uprising 
 were the foolish stories of old women. The result was that on the 
 4th of June (a letter from Ethcrington to Gorrell makes the date 
 June 2nd) a party of Ojibways and Sacs, having gained entrance to 
 the fort under pretense of seeking to recover a ball with which they 
 were playing, fell upon the English suddenly and killed Lieutenant 
 Jamet and fifteen others. Ethcrington, Lieutenant Leslie and eleven 
 men were spared and Langlade, as related in Grignon's Recollections, 
 saved the two officers from torture by boldly releasing them after they 
 had been bound to the stake. 
 
 The statement that Major Ethcrington bad warning of the con- 
 spiracy against the English is confirmed by Alexander Ilcnry, who 
 says in bis I'rax'ch and Adventures in Canada that "M. Laurent Du- 
 cbarme distinctly informed ^fajor Ethcrington that a plan was abso- 
 lutely conceived for destroying him. bis garrison and all the English 
 in the upper country," and though no mention is made of Langlade 
 in this connection by Henry, the evidence all goes to show that Lang- 
 lade acted in good faith with the English connnander. who showed a 
 disinclination to be warned quite equal to that of Rraddock. To M. 
 Ducharmc, Henry says, Ethcrington declared that the reports of an 
 intended Indian attack proceeded from evil-disposed persons, and he 
 threatened to send the next who should bring him such information 
 a prisoner to Detroit. 
 
 Henry complains of the manner in which Langlade treated him 
 during the massacre. He sought refuge in the house of Langlade, 
 who merely shrugged bis shoulders and intimated that be could do 
 nothing for the Englishmen. This cold reception plunged Ilcnry into 
 despair, but a Pawnee woman, a slave of Langlade, secreted him in 
 the garret, and to the kindness of this woman be probably owed the 
 preservation of his life. Later on the Langladcs gave him up to the 
 Indians, Madame Langlade fearing that if the savages should learn 
 of the concealment of Henry they would take revenge on her chil- 
 dren. Henry also says that later on, when he was carried away a cap- 
 tive by the Indians, Langlade refused to give him a blanket and per- 
 mitted him to be taken on a journey in a canoe, naked and shivering, 
 because he was unable to give security for the price of the covering 
 which be asked. 
 
 It is difficult to escape the conviction that Langlade behaved with 
 
218 CHARLES LANGLADE. 
 
 iplninianity on this occasion. Tasse ventures tlic opinion that Hcnry'3 
 narrative set;-, forth the circumstances in a manner more untavorahle 
 to Langlade tlian the facts warrant, but Henry is an authority not to 
 be disposed of so lightly. The probability is that Langlade, who could 
 not at this time have cherished a very warm regard for the English, 
 was indilYerent t<j the fate of the trader.-'' 
 
 In tile meantime Lieutenant Gorrell had abandoned the fort at 
 Green l>:iy. The Itulians at -Milwaukee were invf)lve(l in the conspir- 
 acy ol Pontiac, and at their behest a Menoinmee chief carried a red 
 wampum belt to Chief Carron at Green Bay, as an invitation to the 
 tril)es in that vicinity to join in the attack on the English. Carron. 
 wild was n friend of Langlade, refused to join in the scheme of the 
 ^iilwaukce band, and later he and a party of Menominees gave Lieu- 
 tenant Gorrell and his men a safe conduct to Michillimackinac.-'* In 
 1763 the Langlades, Augustin and Charles, returned to Green Bay with 
 their families and their residence tliere was continuous from that 
 time, tlieir homes in Michillimackinac having been definitely given up. 
 We know very little about Langlade's life at Green Bay during the 
 twelve years following 1763. When the Revolutionary war broke 
 out the British took prompt steps to have him secure the lake tribes in 
 their interest. Captain Arent Schuyler De Peyster, then command- 
 ing at Michillimackinac. asked Langlade to take up arms against the 
 rebellious colonists and when the veteran of so many border forays 
 consented, the delighted Captain said it secured to the British all 
 the western tribes. 
 
 It appears that the first service on the field rendered by Langlade 
 in the Revolutionary war was in T777, when he went to Montreal at 
 the head of a band of Indians comprising Sioux, Sacs, Foxes, Menom- 
 inees, Winnebagoes, Ottawas and Chippewas.-" 
 
 Langlade was at this time 48 years of age, but we are told that he 
 still possessed all the strength and activity of youth; that his hold 
 upon the Indians was as firm as ever is sufficiently proven by the fact 
 that tliey were ready to follow him on the long and weary journey to 
 the scene of conflict in the East. 
 
 After a grand council in Montreal, attended with much oratory, 
 eating of beef and smoking of tobacco, Langlade and his Indians 
 
 2o. I'nrkiiiiin sh.vk of Henry's travels: "The iiutlieiiticlly cif this viry int^rostln,? 
 lKK)k 1ms iievur bepu (luostldiictl." CoiiBplrnoy of Pontine. Vol. I., imge 357. 
 
 20. In voliiiiip VIII. of the Wl.scoiislii Ilistorl.'nl coUeeiloiis tluT' Is an acenmt 
 of an interview had In ].S-t8 with .Sho-no-nce, a Mcnonilnoo ciiiof. who related a tradi- 
 tion of Ills tribe to the ofTeot that on one oconslon Pontlue visited Milwaukee, assem- 
 bled the Indians in conncll and told them that they must join in (jne enuiinon cause 
 and sweep the while man from the country. All of the as-enihled tribes except the 
 Menominees, so Sho-no-nee had the story from hl.< father, declared themselves ready 
 to take the warpath and follow X'ontlac. 
 
 27. Grignou's Iteiollectlons. 
 
FIRST SETTLER OF WISCOA'SIS. 211) 
 
 sl.nutl lo join tlit army i)f Biirgoync, wliicli liail as.sciiil)lc(l at Crown 
 roint and was tlu-n (June, 1777) moving toward tlie Hudson iji 
 accordance with the jjlan to etTect a junction with Howe's army and cm 
 the cokjnies in two. It was to aid in accomphsliing this purjjo^e tliat 
 the Indians of the lake country liad been hriiuglit so lar under l,aii,(- 
 lade's leadersliip. Witli J.anglade went his old Irieiid, Luc de la 
 CtMiie St. Luc, Chevalier de St. Louis, who in most accounts figures 
 as the leader of the Indians who were with Bnrgoyne's army. Lang- 
 lade i'ud St. Luc reported to Burgoyne at Skenesborough, now White- 
 hall, iVevv York, in the latter part of July. Burgoyne made haste to 
 address his savage allies, in a speech which it is probable they were not 
 iilile to comprehend after it was translated to them. Indeed, the 
 liii^tory of those times exhibits few things more curious than this 
 speech of Burgoync's, though it impresses one with a belief in 
 the humanity of the [5ritish commander. He told the warriors that 
 they must not kill old men. women or children, and "on no account, 
 or i)retense. or subtlety, or prevarication" were scalps to be t.iken from 
 v'ounded men.-** 
 
 No doubt Burgoyne had in mind the cruel butchery at 1-drt 
 William Henry, and it is not likely that this speech pleased Lang- 
 lade and St. Luc any more than it did the Indians. When an account 
 of this very remarkable address reached England, one result was 
 that Ednnmd Burke, in the House of Commons, denounced the em- 
 ployment of Langlade's savage followers, in a speech which at once 
 iiroused and entertained the British legislators. He ridiculed the lan- 
 guage used by Burgoyne. in speaking to barbarians who objected to 
 civilized modes of warfare <|uite as much as the Englishmen did to 
 scalping iuid burning. "Suppose," said Burke, "that there w;is a rint 
 on Tower Hill; what would the keeper of his Majesty's lions do? 
 Would he not fling o])en the dens of the wild beasts, and then address 
 them thus: '.My gentle lions, my humane bears, my lender-heartel 
 hyenas, go forth: But I exhort you, as you are Christians and mem- 
 bers of civilized society, to take care not to hurt anv man. woman or 
 child.' " 
 
 On the 27tli of July occurred the murder of Jane .McCrea. a 
 crime which at once horrified and enraged the Americans ;md which 
 has passed into history as one of the saddest stories of the Revolntion. 
 This girl, the (laughter of a Scotch clergyman of Paulus Hook, and 
 the affianced I)ri(]e of David Jones, a lieutenant in Bnrgoyne's army, 
 was visiting her cousin. :\Irs. McXiel, at Fort Edward, when Indians 
 attacked the house and took the two women away captive. There have 
 been various versions of this unhappy affair, but the acconn* . agree 
 in stating that on the day after the attack on the .McXiel nouse, an 
 
 '2X. l-'lske, "Auuiiciiii Ucvnhitiiiii." 
 
220 CHA R LES LA NGLADE. 
 
 Indian of the party headed by Langhide and St. Lnc, and known as the 
 Wyandot Panther, appeared in camp witii Miss McCrea's scalp dan- 
 ghng from liis belt. Tlie Wyandot chiimed that she had been acci- 
 dentally sliot in an encounter between the Indians and some American 
 soldiers, but the belief was strong, in the British army as well as among 
 the colonists, that she had been cruelly nnirdered. Rnrgoyne wanted 
 to bailor the Wyandot Panther fortlnvith. and was only dissuaded from 
 doing so by the representations of his ol'ticers tliat the Indian's guilt 
 was not clearly proven and that hasty action m\^\n move the other sav- 
 ages to revenge. 
 
 Nevertheless. Rurgoyne gave orders that henceforth no Indiana 
 were to go prowling about the country except in charge of a British 
 officer. Less than a week of this restraint was too much for the dis- 
 gruntled tribesmen, and one day they suddenly bolted from the camp 
 in a body. 
 
 This desertion was not wholly unexpected, for it is rel:ited in 
 Anbury's travels that "at the pressing instance of St. Luc, ;i council 
 was called, when, to the general's great astonishment, those natives 
 he had the direction of declared their intention of returning home, at 
 the same time demanding the general to concur with and assist them.'* 
 In a speech delivered in the House of Conniions. on May 26, 1778, 
 in justification of his course in dealing with the Indians. General Bur- 
 goyne said: "Sir. if to restrain them from murder was to discharge 
 them, I take with pride the blame — they were discharged. That cir- 
 cumstance apart, I should say that the Indians, and Mr. St. Luc it 
 the head of them, deserted." 
 
 This statement makes it safe to assume, in the absence of any 
 positive authority, that Langlade left the British camp with the Indi- 
 ans. St. Luc visited England, where he freely criticised Burgoync's 
 treatment of the Indians and was in turn blamed by that unfortunate 
 commander, whose speech in Parliament, quoted from abf>ve. was 
 prompted by certain statements made by the partisan leader. The 
 attempt to use savages from the Northwest as auxiliaries to the British 
 army was not only a failure with respect to immediate military results, 
 but was attended with the most miserable consequences to the Royalist 
 cause in general. It may be doubted whether any event in the whole 
 course of the Revolution inspired such horror and resentment as the 
 murder of Miss McCrea. and many Englishmen, like Burke, were 
 quite as indignant as the colonists. There is no record of the 
 part that Langlade played on this occasion, and we can only sur- 
 mise from the statements of St. Luc what his sentiments were. 
 That officer declared that the Indians left Burgoyne because they had 
 not been shown proper consideration, and because the British general 
 had shown indifference to the fate of those savages who were killed at 
 Bennington. Anbury is quoted by Tasse as saying: "The general 
 
FIRST SETTLER OF WISCONSJN. 221 
 
 showed great resentment toward tlie Indians on tliis occasion (the 
 McCrea murder) and laid restraints upon their disposition to commit 
 other enormities. He was tlie more exasperated, as tliey were Indians 
 of tile remoter tribes who had been guilty of this otTense, and whom 
 he had been taught to look upon as more warlike." Concerning these 
 remarks of the English traveler, it can only be said that the Indians 
 from the interior had never done anything to justify the good opinion 
 with which Burgoyne is said to have regarded them. Whether under 
 the iM-ench or the English flag, and whether led by Langlade or one 
 of their own cliiefs. their warfare was characterized by a cruelty and 
 ferocity that stamped them as utter barbarians. 
 
 Langlade again served the British cause in 1779, wdien the expedi- 
 tion of George Rogers Clark to the Illinois country filled the F.nglish 
 officers in command of the lake posts with alarm. Captain De Peyster, 
 commanding at Michillimackinac, called a council at Arbrc Croche 
 (St. Ignace) but the Indians at Milwaukee refused to attend and their 
 obstinacy filled Captain De Peyster with an indignation that found 
 vent in some very bad verses. The worthy captain declared that: 
 
 Tliiisi> r('i\('>;iil<'s 'it Mihvinikci' 
 Must now in'il'drio willi yiu ii^T, e; 
 Sl.v .SijigoiiiiaU iiiiil NiUiUfWdIn 
 Must with Laiigliiilo tliiir forcoH Johi. 
 
 -[Do r.ysti'i'rt MUccllnnli's.] 
 
 Finally Langlade was sent to Milwaukee, arrayed in full British 
 regimentals, and when he found that persuasion was of no avail, he 
 tried the effect of an ancient Indian ceremony, the dog feast. He 
 placed the heart of a dog, impaled upon a stick, at each of the two 
 doors of .1 lodge erected for the purpose. Then, chanting a war song. 
 he passed through the lodge and bit a piece from each heart in turn. 
 This was a solemn sununons to take up the tomahawk, and when tli>' 
 riles had been performed, the Milwaukee band agreed to follow Lang 
 lade to the council. An expedition under the command of Langlade 
 was organized to oppose the advance of Clark, and the Indians had pro- 
 ceeded as far as St. Joseph when word was received that Lieutenant- 
 Governor Hamilton had been obliged to surrender to Clark. The 
 Indians rturncd to their wigwams, disconsolate because they had 
 taken no scalps. 
 
 Some account of this attempt to defeat the plans of Clark is given 
 in a letter written by Sinclair to Haldimand,^'* under date of May 29, 
 1780. Governor Sinclair wrote: "Your excellency was informed by 
 
 29. r'npt. Patiink Sinclair, niipolntcd lioiitonnnt-pciv rnor aiul Indian siiperln'eiHl- 
 ent of tlip SllclilUim.'ipklnne In 1775. Aftorwnrd he was n: prlyoniT In New York, o" 
 the American revolutionists, but was paroled and went lo l^nRlnnd. In 1779 he wa^ 
 again sent to take rnarge of tlie post of Mirhllllmru-klna". where he snccoed.'d lie 
 Toyster and remained until 17S2. He rose to the rank of lleut>^nant-?eneral u'ld ded 
 In 1820. .Sir Frodorli-k Haldlnaiul was Rovernor of Canada from 1778 to 178'. 
 
222 CHARLES LANGLADE. 
 
 my U'ltrr .u l'\'?)riiary l.i^t tliat a party was to leavf tliis place ( Micliil- 
 liinackiiiai') <>n tlu- lotli ol Marcli to ciiKani' tlif Indians tn tlic wost- 
 \\ai<l in in attack on the Spanish and lllniois country. Seven lumdretl 
 and t'lfiy men, including traders, servants and Indians, proceeded with 
 lliiin flown the Mississipj)! for that purpose on the Jil <lay of May. 
 
 "Uininw; the time necessary for assenihlinR the Indians at La 
 Prairie du (."hien, delacliinciits were niaile to watch the river, to inter- 
 cept craits coming up witli provisions and to sei/e upon the pcnpK- 
 wfirkiiiK in the lead mines. M(tth one ;iiid the otlii-r were etVicted 
 without any accident. 
 
 "Thirty-six .Menomies fMenoniineesI, at first intended as an 
 escort, have hrou^ht to this i)lace a lar^e armed hoat, loaded at I'en- 
 cr<ur, in which were twelve men and a rehel commissary. From the 
 mines they have hrou^fht seventeen Spanish and rehel prisoners aufl 
 stopi)ed fifty tons of lead ore. and from hoth they <il)taine(l a jjood 
 stipi)ly of |)rovisions. The chiefs .Machi(|n;mish and W.ihasha have 
 kmdlid this si)irit in tlie XWstirn tribes. 
 
 "Captain Lannlade, witli a cliost'u h.iml of TMilians and Canadians, 
 will join a i);irty assemhlcd at Chica;<ii, to niaue his attack hy the 
 Illinois ri\er. and another ])arty are sent to watch the plains between 
 tilt Wabash and the .Missippi (Mississippi)." 
 
 I.anKJade \ isited I'rairie dn Chien in 1780. but whether it was 
 as a member of the expedition mentioned by Sinclair is not (|uite 
 dear. The purpose of his goin^; there was to take charge of a larpc 
 quantity of furs accumulated at Prairie du Chien by the Indians, which 
 it was thou>j:ht best, in view of the excitement aroused by the (."lark 
 expedition, to remove to Michillimackinac. a task which Lan).;laue 
 accomplished. 
 
 The closins.? years of Langlade's life were spent peacefully .it 
 Green Bay. His duties as Indian apent reijuired him to m;d<e an 
 occasif)n.d journy, and he continued the business which he and his 
 father had est.iblislied. besides lookinp after a farm which he owned 
 near Green Bay. The manai^er of this firm was Pierre Grii.;non. 
 father of .Autjustin Grignon, to whose retentive memory we ;iie in- 
 debted for most of the facts which we possess regardins Langlade's 
 personality. .Seated by his fireside. Langlade used to tell his children 
 and friends that he bad been in ninety-nine battles and skirmishes. 
 .\nnually on the ist of May. according to a Canadian custom, the 
 settlers raised a fiagstafT and saluted it with cheers and noise of guns, in 
 Langlade's honor. The retired jiartisan lived in comfort, for not only 
 did be have his farm and his fur trade, but the British government 
 gave him an annuity of $800. Lie also received a grant of 3.000 acres 
 of land in Canada, and in 1782 Governor Sinclair confirmed him in 
 possession of his lands at Green Bay. Madame Langlade, notwith- 
 standing her long residence among them, never ceased to regard the 
 Indians with fear, and amusing stories arc t(dd of the excitement into 
 
FIRST SETTLER UE WlSCOSSlN. '-"ll 
 
 wliioli slio was tliniwn almost every time a traditiK I'aiid <>i natiseii 
 came to 'ireen Hay. 
 
 Charles I.aiiKlaile Iiail two rliiMnii, l><itli (laiinlit'-r-i. < )ne mar- 
 ried a settler named narcelloii. and dieil vliiMless. ami tiie otlur Ueiame 
 tile wife fit I'lerre (iriKUon. Tu ilie eiul ui liis life Langlade ^eems 
 t<i have had the entire conlideiue nf the Hritish ol'ieers. for leltirs 
 wiiich were written to iiim hy I'therin^ton and Dc iVyster'" breathe 
 the most frii'n<lly snitiineiit-. It is a trachtion of dreen l'>ay that 
 I.(»uis I'hilhppe, afterwaids Kinn of France, visited tiiat plaie duriiij; 
 his stay in America, and the Rossips of the Bay Settlement- nsed to 
 say that the IVince led ont Madame Langlade to dance a minuet, on 
 the occasion of a festal Katherinn in honor of liis visit. "It is cred- 
 itable to the intelligence and cnltivati(Mi of the De Lantjlades and 
 other early settlers f)f Green Hay." says GriKnon. "that a distin^jnished 
 French nobleman, npon visiting the country many years a^o. shoidd 
 exjiress his surprise ;it hciriiitj from the n;iti\es (»f the country the 
 I'liiiih latiKuaf^c spoken with the same purity and eleK.'ince to whidi 
 he was accustome*! in l\iri;. 
 
 I lis grandson describes Lan^I-'Kle as a man of medium lieiKht and 
 powerful frame. His eyes were lar^re ;md black as jet. ;md his I'acc 
 round and r.'ithcr full, but exjiressive. He w;is a martial ti^nre when 
 dressed in his Piritish uniform, a part of which, the silver buckle of 
 the sword belt, is treasured amon^^ the relics in the Wisconsin .State 
 Tlistorical Society's collection. Langlade died at Green l?ay in the 
 year iSoo and his wife also died there, eighteen years later. 
 
 A county of Wisconsin bears Lan^jlades name and he has been 
 called the father of the state. He was not, however, a commonwealth 
 liuilder, in the sense that the term is ajiplied to the Pilij;rim Fathers or 
 the men of a Kcneration that follo\\e<l L;inj;lade. who or.n;iuizi'd the 
 I'orces of civilizati(ui in the Western states: he w;is a woodsm.in. h.ili 
 trader, half soldier, and a disi)assionatc review of all the known fuels 
 rctjarding- his career inclines one to the belief that some writers have 
 invested his character with too much of the heroic. Part Indian him- 
 self, he was singularly favored, both by character and circumstance, 
 in attainiufr inHuence over the tribes amons which he lived. He had 
 some of the faults of the Indian, and it does not appear that he ever 
 did much to mitigate the horrors of the sava^^;c warfare of his time; 
 yet he had abilities and virtues that raised him far above most of liis 
 associates. He w;is honest, at a time when honest men were exceed- 
 ingly rare in the service of New F'rancc. an<l throughout his career he 
 was esteemed for his integrity by all who hafl relations with him 
 He appe.irs to have been a kindly husband and lather, and that he was 
 a good neighbor is attested by the high regard in which he was held 
 by the founders of Green Bay. 
 
 MONTGOMERY E. McIXTOSII. 
 
 30. Ijinglnde [inpors, Wis. Illst. C</lls., V. 1 VIII. 
 
 
PARKMAN CLUB PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 No. 1. Nicholas Perrot; a Study in Wisconain History. By Gardner P. 
 
 Stickney, Milwaukee, 1895. 16 pp.. paper; 8to. 
 No. 2. Exploration of Lake Superior ; tlie Voyages of Radieson and Groseil- 
 
 Hers. By Henry C. Campbell, Mih/hukee, 1896. 22 pp., paper ; 8vo. 
 
 No. 3. Chevalier Henry de Tonty ; His Exploits in the Valley of the Missis- 
 sippi. By Henry B. Legler, Milwaukee, 1896. 22 pp., paper; 8to. 
 
 No. 4. The Abori^nes of the Northwest; a Olance into the Remote Past. 
 By Frank T. Terry. Milwaukee, 1896. U pp., paper ; 8vo. 
 
 No. B. Jonathan Carver; His Travels in the Northwest in 1766-8. By John 
 G. Gregory. Milwaukee, 1896. 28 pp., 1 plate, 1 map, paper; 8vo. 
 
 No. 6. Negro Slavery in Wisconsin. By John N. Davidson. Milwaukee, 
 1896. 28 pp., paper; 8vo. 
 
 No. 7. Eloazer Williams; His Forerunners, Himself. By William Ward 
 Wight, Milwaukee, 1896. 72 pp., portrait, and four appendices, 
 paper; 8vo. 
 
 IN PRECSS. 
 
 No. 9. TheQorman Voter in Wisconsin PoliticB. By Ernest Brunoken. This 
 paper will cover the period preceding the organization of "the 
 Republican party. 
 
 IN RRKPARATION. 
 
 Bostwick, M. M.— Ancient Copper Minors of Lake Superior. 
 
 Bruncken, Ernest— The German Voter in Wisconsin Politics. This paper 
 will include the period of the civil war. 
 
 Campbell, Henry Colin— Menard, the Jesuit. Migrations of the Hurons. 
 
 Davidson, Rev. John Nelson — Beginnings of Higher Education in 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 Gregory, John G.— -Suffrage in Wisconsin. 
 
 Kelly, Frederick W.— Local Government in Wisconsin. 
 
 La Boule, Rev. Joseph S. — Allouez, the Father of Wisconsin Missions. 
 
 Legler, Henry E. — Mormons in Wiaconfin. 
 
 MoIntosL, Montgomery E. — Co-operative Communities in Wisconsin. 
 
 Miller, Frank H.— Polanders in Wisconsin. 
 
 Starkey, Dan B.— Wisconsin and the Revolntionnry Epoch. 
 
 Stickney, Gardner P.— Certain Vegetable Food Products of Wisconsin 
 and Their Bearing upon Indian Life. 
 
 Terry, Frank T.— Wisconsin Aborigines. 
 
 Wight, William Ward— Joshua Glover, the Fugitive Slave. 
 
 Publication Committbe.— Henry Colin Campbell, Henry E. Legler and 
 John G. Gregory. 
 
 The Parkman Club was organized Dec. 10th, 1895, for study of the history 
 of the Northwest. Its publications are printed for private distribution by 
 the members of the club. A limited number of copies of each paper is set 
 aside for sale and exchange. Single copies are sold at the uniform price of 
 25 cents, and the annual subscription (10 numbers) is placed at $1.50. 
 
 Correspondence may be addressed, 
 
 Gardnek p. Sticknbv, Secretary, 
 
 427 Bradford Street, Milwadkbb, Wis.