Although American Indians lived in the area of
present day Columbia County for several thousand
years, the written history of Columbia County
began with the accounts of French explorers.
They explored, named places and established
trading posts but left few enduring marks on the
land, as their only real interest was in the fur
trade rather than agricultural settlement and
were never present in large
numbers.
From
the journals of French Canadian Louis Joliet and
French priest Pere Marquette, explorers who
traveled the Fox River from Green Bay, portaged
the bit of land, at what is now the city of
Portage, on or about June 16, 1637, to the
Wisconsin River, on their way to discovery of
the Mississippi River. They were the first known
white men to make the journey. Their “discovery”
of the portage was the link American Indians had
used for centuries connecting the great lakes to
the Gulf of Mexico. The city of Portage and the
Government canal at Portage are located near the
original portage
trail.
British control brought few changes. Their single
interest here was the fur
trade.
After the war of 1812 the American Army
established control. In 1816 Astors’ American fur
company was in business in Columbia County.
Eventually, to protect the fur trade and the
settlers that migrated here, Fort Winnebago was
built in 1828 in what is now the township of Fort
Winnebago. The last remnant of the fort is the
Surgeons’ Quarters located outside of Portage on
Highway 33 East. Perhaps the most prominent
individual stationed at the fort was lieutenant
Jefferson Davis. He served with distinction at
Fort Winnebago, later was appointed by President
Pierce to his cabinet and eventually became the
President of the Confederate States of
America.
It was in 1792 that the first white inhabitant,
Laurent Barth, a French Canadian, established
himself at the portage to transport goods between
the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. He had gotten a
permit from the Winnebago Indians to do business
there. Wallis Rowan was the first white settler
who “took up land” for the purpose of cultivation
in what is now
Poynette.
Another
familiar person at portage was Pierre Pauquette.
Born in St. Louis in 1796, his early years were
spent among the Indians in the far western fur
trade. Subsequently he became the agent of the
American Fur Company at the portage. His help as a
translator aided Father Samuel Mazzuchelli to
convert many to Catholicism. Inspired, Pauquette
erected a small log church in 1833 or 34, which
stood near the corner of Adams and Conant Streets
in Portage. This was the first church built in
Wisconsin between Lake Michigan and the
Mississippi River. Pauquette was assassinated in
1836 near where the current Catholic Church is in
Portage by an Indian with whom he had had some
trouble. In about 1850 Wallis Rowan and others in
what is now the town of Poynette applied to
Washington D.C. for a post office. They wanted to
name their community after their admired friend
Pauquette as an enduring tribute. The application
was filled out in long hand. It was misunderstood
in Washington and Poynette it
is.
The old Indian Agency House on the hill opposite
the fort, which is still standing, was built for
John H. Kinzie, the sub-Indian agent. His wife,
Juliet, wrote a wonderful volume of memories of
her live at the Agency House from 1830, called
“Wau-Bun.”
The soldiers were eventually evacuated in 1845 to
fight in the war with Mexico. Jefferson Davis as
Secretary of War gave the order to sell the fort
to the public in
1853.
Sources:
“Columbia County
Wisconsin in 1880”
“The Family Tree of
Columbia County Wisconsin” by A.J. Turner
Welcome to Columbia County
