In 1835 Joseph Tebo, a French-Canadian trader and fur trapper,
became the first settler on land that was destined to become
the city of Beloit. At the time the area was known as the Turtle,
having been home to a large Winnebago Indian village. Tebo built
a cabin near the confluence of the Rock River and Turtle Creek
close to the state line and southwest of the intersection of
State St. and Shirland Ave.
When Tebo built his cabin he was in his late 40s or early 50s.
He was described as a tall, slender man, having a good reputation
with the Indians; however, some reports stated that he was dishonest,
and often traded whiskey for furs. A heavy drinker himself, he
was said to be abusive to his family when drunk.
As
recorded by those who visited, his cabin was sixteen by twelve
feet. Tebo lived there with his two Indian wives and at least
three or four children. The oldest son, Francis or Frank, from
an earlier marriage, was in his late teens. One wife was Tebo’s
age, while the other was younger and reportedly quite attractive.
Tebo also acted as a guide and sold or rented horses. Early visitors
to the Turtle often stayed at his cabin as it was the only shelter
in the area. In one instance he put his family out to accommodate
a large group of visitors. He soon began to realize that his
cabin was located at what would likely be the beginning of a
settlement. Also, the trading business was slowing since the
Winnebagoes moved west across the Mississippi River after the
Blackhawk War. When first contacted by Beloit’s founder
Caleb Blodgett in the spring of 1836, he took advantage of the
opportunity and sold “his land” to Blodgett; he realized
a handsome profit considering he hadn‘t paid for it himself.
After several months he sold his cabin to Robert Crane and Otis
Bicknell, and he and his family moved to the Lake Koshkonong
area. There he built another cabin and continued to trade with
the Indians who still lived in the area. Neighbors and travelers
said he was quite well off.
What happens next to Joseph Tebo is clouded in mystery. Details
are rather slight, and accounts vary, but it seems in the winter
of 1839-40 Tebo disappeared. And rumors spread that he had been
murdered by his own family.
In the 1879 History of Rock County we find this version of what
happened:
He settled on Lake Koshkonong at a place called Theibaults Point, where he was, it is believed, murdered in the winter of 1837-38 [sic] by his son and one of his wives. This crime is attributed by some to the anxiety of his family to follow the Indians west to the Mississippi, while he wished to remain where he was, devoting himself to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture.
Others maintain . . . that his death was due to the instinct of self-preservation . . . [When drunk, Tebo] was monstrously brutal to his family . . .
Lucien Caswell, a Lake Koshkonong pioneer whose parent’s
cabin was near the Tebo cabin, remembers the Tebos as a boy.
He recalls that in the winter of 1839-40, the son Frank came
to their cabin to report that Joseph Tebo had disappeared and
had been missing for some time. And Frank could not shed any
light on the situation. Suspecting foul play, people came from
a great distance to search the area, especially the lake to see
if the ice had been disturbed where a body may have been put
through. However, nothing turned up and the search was called
off.
Caswell also told of another story related by a small boy who
had stayed with the Tebos for a couple days. The boy said that
one night after he had gone to bed the Tebos threw a blanket
over his head assuming he was asleep. He peeked out and saw Frank
and the younger wife strike Tebo on the head several times with
an ax, and then carry his body out. Apparently a skeleton was
later found in a thicket a short distance from the Tebo cabin,
but no arrests were made.
But another account of Tebo’s disappearance didn’t
lend any credence to the murder rumors; a neighbor, Isaac Smith,
states that
Thebault died or disappeared that fall or winter and no one knows exactly what became of him. Some think that he was murdered by his family, but I do not think so. . . he was crazed from a big drunk in Chicago, and I think he dropped into a spring in the marsh or lake.
So not everyone believed he was murdered.
After Tebo’s disappearance his family evidently did move
west of the Mississippi. Frank was seen once or twice passing
through the area hunting with some Indians, but Joseph Tebo was
never seen again. So, to this day the mystery remains unsolved.
(For more details on Joseph Tebo see Arthur Luebke’s
book Pioneer Beloit.)
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