The court met at Elkhorn, in Walworth county, on the fourth Monday of October, where, after some preliminary questions had been decided in favor of the Territory, the suits were, on the application of the defendants, again continued for the alleged reason that the record sent from Iowa county was imperfect, in that it did not contain a certain bill of exceptions which the defendants said was taken by them to the decision of the judge, and signed by him. It afterwards was ascertained that no such bill had been signed by the judge, which statement was made by one of the attorneys for the Territory, in opposing the application for a continuance.

The question of the formation of a State Government was not agitated at this session of the Legislative Assembly. A memorial to Congress relative to the southern boundary of the Territory was introduced by Mr. BRUNSON, which, on motion of Mr. ELLIS, was laid on the table by a vote of 16 to 9, and was not again brought up during the session.

A resolution relative to the northeastern boundary was adopted by both houses, which authorized the Governor to open a correspondence with the Governor of the State of Michigan, to ascertain, if possible, the terms on which that part of the State of Michigan south of Lake Superior and west of Green Bay and Lake Michigan, might be restored to the jurisdiction of the Territory of Wisconsin.

By the act of Congress providing for the admission of Michigan into the Union, approved June 15, 1836, the boundary line, after reaching the mouth of the Montreal River, was thus described :

"Thence through the middle of the main channel of the said Montreal River, to the middle of the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the nearest head-waters of the Menomonee River; thence through the middle of that fork of the said river first touched by the said line, to the main channel of the said Menomonee River; thence down the center of the main channel of the same, to the center of the most usual ship channel of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan, etc."

The Surveyor-General was authorized and required by an act approved June 12, 1838, to cause this boundary line to be "surveyed, marked and designated," and the sum of $3,000 was appropriated for that purpose.

This was not done and the same sum was re-appropriated to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War,

by the second section of the act making appropriations for the support of the army, approved July 20, 1840.

The appropriation was inadequate to the work, and by the third section of the army appropriation act, approved March 3, 1841, there was

"Appropriated $6,000 to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War, in the survey and examination of the country situated between the mouths of the Menomonee and Montreal rivers, who is hereby directed to cause to be made a plat or plan of such survey and examination, which shall be returned to Congress with all convenient dispatch." The time was so short after the appropriation of July, 1840, and the appropriation so small, that but little was done that year. A reconnoisance of the wild country between the Montreal and Menomonee rivers was made by Capt. T. J. CRAM of U. S. Top. Eng., who submitted a report, December, 1840, to be found in Senate Ex. Docs., No. 151, 26th Congress, 2d Session, in which he says:

"It was ascertained that Lac Vieux Desert or Lake of the Desert,' has no connection whatever with the Montreal river; and that the nearest distance between said lake and this river is such, that an Indian requires eight days, without a pack, to pass from one to the other; and it is also believed with much confidence, that the Montreal river does not head in a lake, but takes its rise in an extensive swamp. Neither is Lac Vieux Desert, or Lake of the Desert, at all connected with the Menomonee river; but this lake was found, contrary to the opinions of all except the Indians, to be the principal head of the Wisconsin river."

Capt. CRAM in this report further says:

"It would be exceedingly difficult, yea, utterly impossible, to run the boundary in com plete accordance with the present reading of the description in the act of Congress; particularly on that part of the ground between the Montreal river and the head of the Menomonee (the Brulè river), which comes nearest to Lake of the Desert.'"

He suggested modifications in the description of the boundary to the following effect:

"To the mouth of the Montreal River (of Lake Superior) thence (in ascending) through the centre of the extreme right hand channel, that the said Montreal River may be found to have, so far up the same as where the said channel shall be found to be intersected by a direct line drawn from the highest point of ground on Middle Island of Lac Vieux Desert north-west; thence (from the said intersection) along the just described direct line, to the said point of Middle Island; thence in a direct line to the centre of the channel of the outlet of Brule River; thence following the center of the extreme left hand channel of Brule River down to the middle of the channel of the Menomonee River."

This suggestion was subsequently so far adopted by Congress in the "enabling act" of August 6, 1846, as to remove the practical physical difficulty of delineating the boundary line. That act prescribed that the boundary, after running through Lake Michigan to the Menomonee River, should run

Up the channel of that river to the Brule River; thence up said last mentioned river to Lake Brule; thence along the southern shore of Lake Brulè in a direct line to the center of the channel between Middle and South islands in the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the head waters of the Montreal River, as marked upon the survey made by Capt. CRAM."

In the summer of 1841 another reconnoisance, with many astronomical observations and instrumental surveys, was made by Capt. CRAM, whose report can be found in Senate Ex. Documents, No. 170, 27th Congress, 2nd session.

This reconnoisance and survey embraced the whole distance from the mouth of the Menomonee River at Green Bay to the mouth of the Montreal River at Lake Superior. The report says

"The length of the surveyed line from the head of the Montreal to eastern extremity of Trout Lake is 43 miles 3,188 feet."

"The length of the line from Trout Lake to Lac Vieux Desert is 35 miles 2,987 feet."

The sum of these two lines is 79 miles 795 feet, but this distance is not on a straight line.

The report further says

"The length of the surveyed line from Lac Vieux Desert to Lac Brulè is 15 miles 143 feet."

"The whole length of the survey from the head of the Montreal to the head of the Brulè therefore becomes 100 miles 2,199 feet.

Speaking of Lake Vieux Desert, Captain CRAM in his first report says-

"The country in the vicinity of this beautiful lake is called in Chippewa language Ka-takit-te-kon, and the lake bears the same name. On South Island there is an old potato planting ground, hence the appellation of Vieux Desert, which in mongrel French means old planting ground. There is certainly more reason for calling it "Lac Vieux Desert" than for the appellation "Lake of the Desert."

In the House of Representatives so much of the Governor's message as relates to the Bank of Mineral Point was referred to the committee on corporations, of which Hon. E. V. WHITON was chairman.

At an early period of the session Mr. WHITON reported from the committee a bill to establish the New York safety fund system.

The principal object which it was expected the passage of the bill would accomplish was the election of a bank commissioner, with power at all times to examine the affairs of the bank, and to cause it to be wound up whenever the public welfare demanded it.

The passage of the bill was vigorously opposed by those interested in the bank, with all the influence they could

bring to bear upon it, and the cashier had the assurance to send a communication to the House, asking to be heard before it by counsel.

On motion of Mr. WHITON it was resolved that the bill be referred to the committee on the judiciary, and that the stockholders be allowed to appear before that committee by counsel, and be heard relative to the bill.

After this the bill was before the House for more than a month, and on the 13th of February it passed that body by a vote of 16 to 10.

In the Council several amendments were adopted to the bill, which its friends in the House regarded as defeating its beneficial objects and proposed amendments to the Council amendments calculated to prevent such an effect. The Council refused to concur and the House refused to recede, and the disagreement resulted in the defeat of the bill.

After the defeat of the bill, Mr. COLLINS, of Iowa county, who had reported the amendment adopted by the Council, on the last day of the session, introduced on leave a resclution that the President of the Council appoint a committee of three members, to make a thorough examination of the state and condition of the Bank of Mineral Point, and to cause the result of their examinations to be published in a newspaper at the seat of government and to make a report to the Council at its next session.

The resolution was adopted and Messrs. ARNOLD, LEARNED and MARTIN appointed the committee.

In about a month the committee caused their report to be published which bore date March 23, 1841.

The report was of course based upon information derived from the officers of the bank and showed that the immediate liabilities of the bank (not including stock) were $250,295.34, and the available resources were $246,132.95, in addition to which the bank had "paper which is not considered immediately available, but which may be deemed ultimately good," amounting to $86,877.69 and that the remaining property consisting mainly of real estate amounted to $17,723.46, making a sum total of assets $350,734.10.

That it further appeared from the statement of the cashier that $100,000 of the capital stock was paid in, which if added to the liabilities would increase them to $350,295.34.

The report stated that of the immediate liabilities $208,820, consisted of its outstanding bank note circulation,

which was an increase of $118,515, since the 25th of September 1840, when an examining committee of the Council reported the circulation to be $90,305.

The remaining liabilities consisted of drafts on New York $27,400, and deposits $14,075.34.

This examination was made about three weeks after a published announcement "to the public" over the signature of the cashier, bearing date March 5, 1841, that the bank had suspended specie payments and would pay her liabilities by drafts on St. Louis at sight, payable in Illinois, Kentucky or Indiana bank notes.

In the early part of August, 1841, the affairs of the bank were placed in the custody of the law. An injunction was issued to restrain the bank from continuing its operations and receivers were appointed to take charge of its assets. They found the vaults empty. The specie, of which the committee reported March 23d, there was $26,507.25 on hand, had been clandestinely removed. The cashier, S. B. KNAPP, his brother, R. C. KNAPP, and the teller, PORTER BRACE, had absconded and taken with them the currency and other portable assets of the bank. They were pursued by the receivers, and the cashier and his brother were overtaken at Rockford and made prisoners. They had attempted to conceal a large amount of bank notes and drafts by sealing them up between the fly leaves and covers of some books, which they had left with a friend and acquaintance, and who delivered them up to the receivers. Upon "breaking the seals" in the presence of several Rockford gentlemen they found $1,500 of Illinois Bank notes and over $70,000 in certificates of deposit and drafts on Galena, St. Louis, New York and Boston, and bills of lading for 12,901 pigs of lead (903,070 lbs.).

The culprits escaped, and many of the parties upon whom the drafts were drawn interposed defenses or offsets, so that very little was ever realized from them.

The most mysterious thing about the whole affair was the unaccountable disappearance of WILLIAM H. BANKS, Esq., one of the receivers. He was a lawyer at Mineral Point of high standing; a native of Virginia of unimpeachable character in every respect. He went to St. Louis in the discharge of his duties as receiver, when he mysteriously disappeared and was never afterwards seen or heard of, notwithstanding the most diligent search and inquiry. The