The falling off in 1840 was not occasioned so much by an actual diminution of population, as by setting off new counties from Brown. The county seat was established by a vote of the people, at Depere.

Seven post-offices have been established in Brown county-at Bridgeport, Depere, Duck Creek, Green Bay, Kakalin, Little Chute and Menomonee. There is one weekly newspaper published at Green Bay.

Agreeably to the United States census of 1840, there were then in Brown county 475 horses, 1,053 neat cattle, 85 sheep, 1,380 swine, 42 groceries and stores, 8 lumber yards, 1 tannery, 3 grist mills, and 25 saw mills. The products of the preceding year (1839) were as follows: 7,614 bushels of wheat, 137 bushels of barley, 13,674 bushels of oats, 60 bushels of rye, 259 bushels of buckwheat, 3,695 bushels of Indian corn, 27,508 bushels of potatoes, 1,707 tons of hay, 30,460 pounds of maple sugar, 2,316 barrels of fish, and 27,880 dollars' worth of lumber. In 1845 there were 112,798 acres of land liable to tax, and the whole amount of taxable property was $309,764.

The "town system" is adopted, and the county is divided into four towns-Green Bay, Depere, Kakalin and Howard.

The town of KAKALIN is on the Neenah river, in the south part of the county. The Grand Kakalin rapids, from which this town derives its name, is near the middle of the town. It is the principal and most noted rapids of the Neenah. In a space of eight thousand six hundred feet, according to the survey of Capt. Cram, there is a descent, over horizontal strata of limestone rock, of forty-four feet. The river is here divided, by about thirty small islands, into numerous small channels. On approaching, and upon leaving these rapids, it has a direction nearly northeast, but upon the rapids it is deflected to a due east course. The Konkapot creek enters the river from the south, at these rapids; and a town, called La Fontaine, has been laid out

near their foot. Stone, of excellent quality for building, may be quarried here in abundance. A company has been incorporated to construct a railroad from this point to Lake Winnebago. Bridgeport, or Waupakun, is situated at the mouth of Plum creek, in this town, about two miles below Rapide de Croche. From this place a survey has been made for a canal to Cliffton, on Lake Winnebago. The length of the route is fourteen miles and five hundred and eighty feet: a feeder from the north branch of the Manitowoc river, nearly two miles in length, would be necessary. The summit is eighty-five feet and fifty-one hundredths above Lake Winnebago, and the Manitowoc, at the head of the proposed feeder, is sixty-eight feet above that lake. By the construction of this canal the rapids of the Neenah would be avoided. The population of the town of Kakalin, in 1842, was 251.

The town of DEPERE lies between Kakalin and Green Bay, extending east to Lake Michigan. It derives its name from the Rapides des Peres, on the Neenah river, six miles above Green Bay, being the first of a series of rapids extending along this river as far as Lake Winnebago. The descent on these rapids is not very considerable, as the dam of six feet erected here by the "Fox river Hydraulic Company," not only flows the Depere, but also the Little Kakalin rapids. At these rapids a town has been built, which is the seat of justice for the county. It was laid out in 1835, on a level plain of considerable elevation above the river, with a good soil for gardens, and being at the head of natural navigation, and having a very extensive and valuable water power, will probably continue to grow and prosper until it becomes an important place. Good water is obtained by sinking wells to the depth of ten feet. A village has been laid out at the mouth of the Kewaunee, on Lake Michigan, and a survey made, with a view of constructing a harbor; but no improvements have been made at this point. It is suggested that a railroad from Kewau

nee to Green Bay, a distance of twenty-three miles, would save vessels navigating Lake Michigan a voyage up Green Bay and back, or one hundred and eighty miles, by making Kewaunee a "port" for Green Bay. Should this ever be done, Kewaunee may become an important point.

The population of Depere in 1842 was 320.

The town of GREEN BAY embraces all that part of the county east of Fox river and Green Bay, and not included in the towns of Depere and Kakalin. It takes its name from the large bay, or arm of Lake Michigan, of the same name, which is about one hundred miles long, with an average breadth of about twenty miles, and a supposed depth of five hundred feet. The towns of Navarino and Astor, on the east side of the Neenah at its mouth, constitute the north and south wards of the town or village of Green Bay. The former is the original and ancient town, Astor having been laid out in 1836, as an addition or extension of Navarino. Green Bay is one of the largest towns in the Territory; and it was at one time believed that it would become the "commercial emporium" of the whole country as far as the Mississippi. But during the last few years it has not increased so rapidly in population as its friends and citizens had anticipated. Its location is one of great beauty of scenery, at the mouth of an important river, but its commercial relations with the surrounding country are in a great degree dependent upon the improvement of the navigation of that river. Should that important work ever be accomplished, we may expect to find Green Bay to hold its rank as one among the principal towns or cities of Wisconsin. Its population was estimated in 1839, by the newspaper writers of that day, at about two thousand. According to the census taken in 1842, it numbered seven hundred and sixty-two, of which two hundred and seventynine were in the south ward, or Astor. It is now supposed to be about one thousand. There are many good buildings, spacious warehouses, excellent hotels, and fine churches, at

Green Bay, and the country immediately around presents many fine farms, gardens, and residences; but a short distance in the interior, the land is but little occupied, affording many good locations for the emigrant who wishes to make agriculture his business. The bay and river afford a perfectly secure harbor, without the aid of piers or any other works. Steamboats of the largest class have landed at the wharves and discharged their cargo and passengers. The increased sales of land to actual settlers, the discovery of some mines of copper in the north part of the county, and the arrangement by which one or more of the larger steamboats navigating the lakes are to touch at this point, all seem to indicate a revival of business at Green Bay.

The following table exhibits the value of the goods and articles of all kinds imported and exported to and from Green Bay, as reported by Col. Albert, of the U. S. Topographical Engineers, from 1836 to 1841 inclusive:

Green Bay is 124 miles from Milwaukee, by way of Fond

du Lac, or 114 by way of the United States road, by Sheboygan and Manitowoc ; 34 miles from Manitowoc, 63 from Sheboygan, and 60 miles from Fond du Lac.

Fort Howard is a military post, opposite the town of Green Bay, at the mouth of the Neenah. It is situated on a slight eminence, commanding a delightful view of the town and harbor.

The town of HOWARD was established in 1844, embracing nearly all of the county west of Green Bay and the Neenah or Fox river. It embraces the settlement of Oneida Indians on Duck creek, and the fine lumbering region on the Oconto, Pensankee and other rivers.

Several other towns have been laid out and established by law in this county, but they were subsequently attached to one or other of the three towns here described. Among them were Bay-settlement, Kewaunee, Perry and Pensaukee.

There are several important rivers in Brown County, which will now be noticed more in detail.

The MENOMONEE is quite a large river, that enters Green Bay about its middle, and forms part of the boundary of the county and the Territory. Its course has been very inaccurately represented on the old maps, and some difficulties have resulted in relation to the boundary between Wisconsin and Michigan, requiring the action of Congress to adjust, so important is it for map-makers to preserve accuracy in their work!

Nearly all the accurate information we have relative to this stream is derived from the government survey, under Capt. Cram, who reports that "it passes a large volume of water into Green Bay at all seasons of the year, and yet is subject to considerable variations in height, consequent upon the fluctuations of its principal tributaries, which are themselves of considerable size. It is not navigable for any craft except canoes, owing to difficult rapids, shoals, and falls. The banks of the river, as well as its islands, from its mouth as far up as the Big Quinnesec Falls, are covered with an excellent growth of white and yellow pine timber, which in process of time must become very valuable. The bed of the river throughout is exceedingly rocky, and its banks in many places, particularly at the falls and principal rapids, consist chiefly of rock. It does not overflow its banks, which are generally quite bold. The valley of the Menomonee contains much good land, and is in the main much better than is generally supposed. The country adjacent to the upper part of the Menomonee, for about thirty miles on both sides, has an exceedingly desolate appearance; all the timber, which was once pine, has