Beginnings of Iowa County |
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Colonel Henry DodgeThe arrival of the Dodge party of miners in Iowa County on 3 October, 1827 was a tribute to the power of the lure of riches triggered by rumors that lead lay on top of the ground. From his birth in 1782 to his death in 1867, Henry Dodge was an active participant in the American Story. Beginning as an unschooled frontier youth, Dodge grew to become a sheriff, a judge, a lead mining country entrepreneur, a sheriff in Missouri and Wisconsin and a militia general in the War of 1812. His resolve and fast action brought the sad events of the Black Hawk War of 1832 to a swift conclusion. His reputation as a man of action brought him to the attention of President Andrew Jackson who commissioned him as the first commander of the U. S. Mounted Dragoons sending the Dragoons to the “Indian Territory” of the American Southwest. The president ordered Dodge to pacify the tribes and to preach the value of farming to the mostly nomadic natives. He tried; it didn’t take. (The dragoons later became the renowned First Cavalry Division.)
Returning to Wisconsin in 1835 Dodge was appointed territorial governor, a non-voting member of congress, and on the admission of Wisconsin as the thirtieth state in the Union in 1848 our first U. S. Senator. At his death in 1867, Henry Dodge had commissions signed by six U. S. Presidents and was universally respected as a man of honor. (Photo courtesy of the Wis. Historical Society)
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Christiana McDonald DodgeWife of Colonel Dodge and the mother of thirteen children. She married Dodge in 1801 and was his faithful companion for sixty-four years. In Iowa County she was the fervent popularizer of the White Rose of The House of York made famous during the Wars of the Roses from 1455-1487 in England. A vigorous example of this annually blooming rose may be viewed at the Dodge Mining Camp Cabin in Dodgeville. (Photo courtesy of the Wis. Historical Society)
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John Reed and Esther SmithEarly recipients of the White Rose of York from Christiana McDonald Dodge. They arrived in Iowa County in 1835 from Somershire, England. Their descendants are numerous in Iowa County. (Photo courtesy of the Ed Jewell Family)
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Colonel Henry Dodge in buckskinThis small water color was done during the First Dragoon expedition of 1834 to the “Indian Territory” of the Southwestern United States after the return of Colonel Dodge from a buffalo hunt. The original is lost. (by George Catlin)
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Henry DodgeAt the peak of his entrepreneurial power
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Black HawkWar chief of the Sac-Fox Indian nation during Black Hawk War of 1832. (by George Catlin)
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Black Hawk and SonArtwork from after the conclusion of the Black Hawk War of 1832. (by John Jarvis)
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Comanche Sham BattlePerformed for Colonel Henry Dodge and the First Mounted United States Dragoons during the Dodge-led expedition to the Southwest Indian Territory in 1834. (by George Catlin)
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James DotyMortal political enemy of Dodge, a frontier judge, territorial governor, territorial representative in Congress and land speculator who promoted Madison as the future site of the Wisconsin state capital.
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Homer Davis (1888-1912)Talented Ridgeway born poet, playwright and composer, whose talent was snuffed out at twenty-five years of age. His work was done in the classical manner. Read some of his works at the Dodgeville Public Library.
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