About this ebook
Among the familiar characters who come into the story are Governor James D. Doty, Jefferson Davis, John Lowe, Col. Wm. S. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, Eleazar Williams, Augustin Grignon, Jacques Porlier, Chief Four Legs, and many others.
The garrison life at Forts Howard and Winnebago, the dangerous passage of the rapids of the Fox River in the Mackinac boats, and the customs of the Wisconsin Indians of the period are all vividly told in this classic.
Unmissable American historical literature.
“Mrs. Kinzie’s account of the early day in Wisconsin is delightful; it sparkles with humor and with the pleasure of youth in new and strange adventures. The spirit of happiness pervades it and the author’s affectionate sympathy for her husband’s Indian ‘children’ shines on every page. Her description of travel and its vicissitudes in Wisconsin of the early day is full of fun and jollity. She was what we would call today a ‘good sport,’ taking everything with philosophy and good will. The feast of good things is spread for the reader; all that remains is enjoyment of the narration.”—Louise Phelps Kellogg, Introduction
About the author
JULIETTE AUGUSTA MAGILL KINZIE (September 11, 1806 - September 15, 1870) was an American historian, writer and pioneer of the American Midwest.
Born in Middletown, Connecticut, to Frances Wolcott Magill and her second husband, Arthur William Magill, she was tutored in Latin and other languages by her mother and young uncle, Alexander Wolcott. She briefly attended a boarding school in New Haven, Connecticut, and Emma Willard’s school in Troy, New York.
She married John H. Kinzie, son of fur trader John Kinzie, in 1830 and moved to Detroit and then Fort Winnebago, a new trading post at the crucial portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. John was an Indian sub-agent to the Ho-Chunk nation (Winnebago people), assigned to this area that connected the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence and Mississippi watersheds.
After the treaty ending the Sauk War of 1832 forced the Winnebago to move west of the Mississippi River, the Kinzies left the area that would later become Wisconsin, and in July 1833 moved to Chicago in the relatively new state of Illinois. They became involved in Chicago’s civic and social development throughout the 19th century. Active in the Episcopal church, Juliette Kinzie helped found St. James Church. The Kinzies also helped found St. Luke’s Hospital and the Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago History Museum).
Juliette died while vacationing in Amagansett, New York, Long Island, in 1870, aged 64.
