Table Of ContentKellogg Bank is pleased
to present this limited edition copy of
Green Bay: A Pictorial History.
Having played a major role in Green Bay's
history for over 109 years, it seems fitting
that Kellogg Bank brings you this
beautifully illustrated and carefully
documented volume. We are certain it will
prove to be a valuable addition to your
family's library and a rare collector's item
in years to come.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of
2 Jack Rudolph, author of this book, for his
commitment to this publication.
Kellogg Bank dedicates this outstanding
volume to the citizens of Green Bay-past
and present-whose courage, faith, and
determination helped build a strong
foundation for our city's progress and
growth and made it a fine place to live
. and work.
Officers, Directors,
and Staff of
Kellogg Bank
G r e e n B a v
. PICTORIAL HISTORY-,,
..:: :::_-:-:- by Jack Rudolph
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Copyright© 1983 by Jack Rudolph
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this work in any form whatsoever without
permission in writing from the publisher, except
for brief passages in connection with a review. For
information, write:
The Donning Company/Publishers
5659 Virginia Beach Boulevard
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
This is a special edition and is not for sale in
bookstores or other retail outlets.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
~:
Preface .......... ;~, .............., : '~ 7
Chapter I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter V ....... _.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Chapter VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Chapter VII . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7
Chapter VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Index ........... -.. . 214
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Jean Nicoletsteps ashore at Red in W1Sconsin. The painting in the
Banks, on the bay shore north of the Brown County courthouse is by
present-city of Green Bay, in 1634. Franz Rohrbeck of Milwaukee. From
He was the first white man to set foot the Neville Public Museum
CHAPTER
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Gateway·
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To The
.·· Wes
. (1634-1847)
I
n the late summer of 1634 a French fur trader and
explorer named Jean Nicolet stepped out of a canoe
on the east shore of Green Bay, about fifteen miles from
the present site of the city of the same name. The first
white man to set foot in Wisconsin, Nicolet established
France's claim to the vast wilderness territory. He didn't
have a flag with him, but his arrival, in effect, planted the
first of three national flags over the region.
A few days later he entered the mouth of a river
emptying into the southern end of the bay. Continuing
upriver he passed the entrance of another stream into
what is now the Fox River. He probably wasn't im
pressed. The area between the rivers, destined to
become the downtown business district of the future
city, was a mosquito-infested swamp. It stayed that way
for 2_00 years.
After the departure of Nicolet nobody else showed
up for thirty-five years. Finally, in the winter of 1669-70,
the Jesuit missionary Claude Allouez arrived. A year
later he established the permanent mission of Saint
Francis Xavier at the foot of the Fox River rapids about
seven miles from the river's mouth. The crude outpost
soon became a rendezvous for neighboring Indians
and Canadian fur traders, who used it as a base for
expeditions into the interior of Wisconsin.
The mission flourished for nearly twenty years, but in
1688 the warlike Fox Indians and their allies the Sauks
destroyed it. The trade wasn't reopened until the
French broke their power in 1731. By that time the long
struggle between France and England, ending in
victory for the latter, was rising to a climax.
In 1763 Charles de Langlade became the first
permanent white settler in Wisconsin, although he was
half Indian. De Langlade had attained great notoriety
leading the Indians against the British during the
colonial conflict. After surrendering the fort at Mackinac Sited on the ridge at Red Banks on
to the British, and becoming a British citizen, in 1763 he Highways 54 and 57, about fifteen
received permission to move his family from Mackinac miles north of Green Bay, is a bronze
to La Baye. statue representing Jean Nicolet. The
At the same time the British sent a small military French explorer and fur trader first
garrison to La Baye, and the Union Jack replaced the stepped ashore somewhere below
the spot in 1634, when he was thirty
Lilies of France. The force was soon withdrawn. The
six years old. The figure is the work
British didn't need it, since de Langlade's fearsome
of the late Sidney Bedore, who also
reputation was enough to keep the surrounding tribes
sculpted the Spirit of the Northwest.
off each other's and the settlers' back.
Photo by the Reverend Aaron
De Langlade' s clerk Pierre Grignon married the Walschinski, 0. Praem
boss's daughter and raised six lusty sons who spread
out over Wisconsin in a family trading enterprise.
Others attracted to the crude but peaceful settlement
included Joseph Roi, John Lawe, and Jacques Parlier
(who was hired to tutor the Grignon kids but who soon
struck out for himself).
The American Revolution hardly touched the
community. Althouth the region became a United
States possession at the close of the war, the infant
10
