Lewis & Clark Expedition Member Alexander H. Willard Lived Here

Lewis and Clark Expedition Member Alexander H. Willard Lived Here. . , Willard was 26 when he volunteered to join the Lewis and Clark expedition. He served primarily as a blacksmith and hunter and knew some carpentry and gun repair; all skills called upon during the Corps of Discovery's journey. , Alexander, wife Elinor, and their large family settled nearby in Meekers Corners in the 1820s when this area was part of Michigan Territory. Around 1849 the Willards moved to a home at this site, a house they purchased from their son who was leaving for the California gold rush. , They lived here until 1852, when a wagon train made up of almost all of the extended Willard family members left Wisconsin for California. He was 74 at that time! , To the right is the 1875 Birds Eye View of Platteville painted by H. Brosius. The large building on the corner of Main and Elm Streets was the Platteville Academy, the forerunner of UW-Platteville. That building burned and was replaced by Rountree Hall. Willard's house could possibly be the one to the left of the Academy, though many houses appear to just be representations. , The expedition's men faced many hardships , One of the worst was the month-long, 18-mile portage around the Great Falls in today's Montana. They were confronted by grizzly bears, rattlesnakes, mosquitoes, cactus, intense heat and storms, and even being knocked down by hail. Willard was chased by a grizzly to within 40 yards of camp but managed to escape. , In his journal Meriwether Lewis wrote... ”At every halt these poor fellows tumble down and are so much fortiegued that many of them are asleep in an instant. In short their fatiegues are incredible; some are limping from the soreness of their feet, others faint and unable to stand for a few minutes, with heat and fatiegue, yet no one complains. All go on with cheerfulness...”, In August 1805 the Captains named Willard's Creek in honor of Alexander. (Today's Grasshopper Creek in western Montana.) , August 1806 on the return voyage, the canoe Willard was in hit submerged logs on the Missouri River and he was thrown out in the raging waters. He clung to a log until he could tie some sticks together to form a raft of sorts and floated for a mile before he made shore. Lewis wrote “It was fortunate for Willard that he could swim tolerably well.” , In 1807, after the expedition, Willard married Elinor McDonald in Missouri and they would have 12 children. Elinor's sister was married to Henry Dodge, the future 1st and 4th governor of the Wisconsin Territory. By the mid 1820's the Willards had settled nearby (see present day map to the right) when this area was part of Michigan Territory. , Alexander Willard and three sons fought in the 1832 Black Hawk War. In 1836 tragedy struck the family when, son, George Clark Willard, was murdered by a disgruntled neighbor. George was trying to protect the man's son from being beaten. , In 1832 a survey was started to prepare this area to become Wisconsin Territory within four years. Surveyor Lucius Lyon drew this map detailing the actual site of the Willard family homestead where they lived from the mid 1820's until 1849. (Present day map is at the bottom.) , The surveyor also mapped the site of Willard's lead diggings, a few miles north of the homestead. Big chunks of lead, the main mineral in galena, could be found lying on the ground. The mining of lead had been going on for hundreds of years by the native tribes, such as the Ho-Chunk, Sauk and Fox. , Shortly after the Willards arrived in the mid 1820’s more than 4,000 miners worked this area producing 13 million pounds of lead a year. , [image and photo captions] , . 1805 Fort Mandan in present day North Dakota , . 18 mile portage around the Great Falls , . 1832 Willard homestead survey map , . Galena , For more information on the Foundation and Badger Chapter, visit www.lewisandclark.org , Funded in part by the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation from the Lewis and Clark Trail Stewardship Endowment: A National Council of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Bicentennial Legacy Project