boatload of lead ore in 1816 down the Mississippi River. Three years later, Jesse W. Shull built a trading post. The Thomas H. January family, who arrived in 1821 from Maysville, Kentucky, are considered the first permanent American settlers. The next year, the US Department of War assumed control of the mines and leased the lands out to operators. A large group of colonists led by Dr. Moses Meeker and James Harris arrived in 1823. Steamboat trade began in 1824. American Boomtown The first official lease of the mines on behalf of the US government was dated September 30, 1822 and made to James Johnson, brother of US Senator Richard Mentor Johnson. Martin Thomas, appointed by the government in 1824 to oversee mine leases, was commissioned to survey the mines in 1826. The name "Galena" was purportedly proposed during a town meeting that year; rejected names included Jackson, Harrison, and Jo Daviess. After Thomas platted the town, starting in June 1827, settlers could lease plots from the government. The land remained in government possession until the leasing system was eased out in 1836–37. When Jo Daviess County was founded in 1827, Galena was named its county seat. This established the first courts in Galena; previous legal proceedings were heard in front of the Superintendent of Lead Mines. 21 million pounds of lead were mined in Galena from 1825 to 1828, and the population skyrocketed in that time from 200 to 10,000. Local native tribes, then mostly Mesquakie and Ho-Chunk, permitted settlers to mine in established areas in Galena. However, the growth of the city led settlers to encroach on native land claims, as they sought new veins of lead. Following a murder of a pioneer family near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, by the Winnebago, Galena closed its mines for safety and European-American residents prepared for war. They constructed forts at nearby Elizabeth and Apple River; although these were not used during the conflict, the forts provided residents with security and protection. The ensuing Winnebago War was little more than a skirmish, but as a result, the US annexed more lands near the city in the resulting 1829 Treaty of Prairie du Chien which they forced on the Winnebago. A meeting of townspeople on February 1, 1830, established the first fire department. At a town meeting at the county courthouse on September 7, 1835, sixty-five residents approved a motion for incorporation