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Post by Rivergal on Aug 5, 2012 7:34:37 GMT -6
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Post by Rivergal on Aug 5, 2012 10:24:43 GMT -6
Excerpt from the ebook:
"During his army life Reed married a Potawatomi woman, by whom he had five children, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, Madeline, and James. Upon her death in 1830 he was married a second time to a Menominee mixed blood, widow of the trader, Russell Farnham. Two children, Margaret and John, resulted from this union. He later married the widow of Amable Grignon, whose son Antoine Was the chief source of this biography.
While in the United States army service at Fort Crawford Reed learned the carpenter trade and helped in the construction of some of the frame buildings of Prairie du Chien. He found plenty of work both in the army and outside, but he had planned to become a fur trader. Accordingly, after getting his discharge, he entered the employ of the American Fur Company, devoting his time to hunting, trapping, and trading with the Indians. He was stationed for over a year at Red Cedar, Iowa, where he opened a trading post among the Indians, sending his accumu- lated furs overland by cart to Prairie du Chien. During the absence of his cart-train he had but a single companion, a Sioux boy about sixteen years old. One morning while this boy was alone a band of fifteen Sauk warriors passing by murdered him, and were in the act of scalping him when Reed appeared on the scene. Angered at the brutal murder of his helpless Indian boy he turned his rifle on the fleeing band of Sauks, and fired, kill- ing one of the warriors. He then called out to the Indians, daring them to return and fight like braves, in loud and angry tones naming them cowards and murderers. They continued their flight, however over a distant ridge, being fully convinced that the trapper not only was in earnest but was an excellent shot as well. Reed, expecting the Sauks to return that night and give him trouble, prepared everything for a surprise, sleep- ing with his loaded rifle on his arm ready for instant use. For weeks afterwards he was entirely alone at the trading post. Years later he told Grignon it was the most lonely and hazardous po- sition of all his life, living in constant expectation of hostile In- dians, and traveling on perilous expeditions through the sur- rounding territory in quest of furs. He had no further trouble with the Indians while at Red Cedar, but after remain- ing a year he decided to return to Prairie du Chien where he again entered the government service.
During the Black Hawk War he was engaged to help take a keel boat up the Mississippi to Bad Axe. Returning to Prairie du Chien he was sent as a courier with important messages to the army, which was near- ing Bad Axe. He traveled the distance on a pony and arrived in time to witness the battle that ensued.
Although in the government service, Reed always denounced the cruel, unrelenting slaughter of the half-starved, dispirited Indians..."
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Post by Rivergal on Aug 5, 2012 11:19:07 GMT -6
In 1836 James Lockwood swore that Antoine Reed resided in Prairie du Chien and was a foreigner [meaning not eligible to vote ?]. Joseph [also called Antoine] Reed was a French Canadian not related to James Reed. Antoine Reed was attached to Thomas McNair's company in the Winnebago War of 1827 www.geocities.com/old_lead/winwarmcnair02co.htm
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