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Early History

We have no data at hand from which to estimate the quantities of furs purchased by the French at this early period and sent to Europe. This constituted almost the sole motive for "locating" in these wild, and till then, unknown shores. The French are possessed of the peculiar faculty of making themselves "at home" with the Indians, and lived without that dread of their tomahawks which is so keenly felt by the pioneers of English settlements. They were not able however to maintain friendly terms with all the different tribes into which the Indian population was divided, for before the close of the seventeenth century we find them united with the Chippewas and Menomonees contending with the Sauks & Foxes for a free passage across the country from Green Bay to the Mississippi, i which they met with complete success, by a decisive battle fought at Buttes des Morts or the Hill of the Dead. "The Ottagamies (Foxes) had selected a strong

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