Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
Maj. Zebulon Pike tries to interview Julien Dubuque in 1805
Appendix 1, letter no. 2 (Prairie du Chien, Sept. 5, 1805)
Major Zebulon Pike passed up the Mississippi in 1805 and visited Julien Dubuque, the first white miner in the lead region for more than a century, at the site of the modern Iowa city that bears his name. Pike asked Dubuque questions about his operation but Dubuque, fearful of international intrigues between the U.S. and the Spanish (who owned the west bank of the Mississippi), withheld as much information as he could about the value of the mines and the extent of his work. Pike's notes nevertheless provide one of the very few contemporary accounts that we have of Dubuque. They are in the "Appendix to Part I" on page 5, and consist of Dubuque's very brief answers to Pike's questions.
| Related Topics: |
Mining, Logging, and Agriculture Lead Mining in Southwestern Wisconsin |
| Creator: | Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, 1779-1813 |
| Pub Data: | (Philadelphia: Published by C. & A. Conrad, & Co.; Somervell & Conrad; Bonsal, Conrad, & Co.; and Fielding Lucas, Jr., 1810). |
| Citation: | Pike, Zebulon Montgomery. An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, and through the Western Parts of Louisiana... (Philadelphia, 1810). Online facsimile at: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/aj,12886; Visited on: 5/14/2024 |
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