Houlton in St. Croix County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Native American Communities

Photographed by McGhiever, September 15, 2023

1. Native American Communities Marker

Inscription.

Native American Communities. . , To the Dakota and Ojibwe, life depended on their skills in using the natural resources. They made their own clothing, built their own homes, made their own tools and gathered or hunted for their food. The Ojibwe and Dakota were semi-nomadic people, each season they moved from camp to camp. In the early spring they processed maple syrup into maple sugar in sugar bush camps. Throughout the summer they would gather berries, nuts, roots and wild greens and tend small gardens of corn, beans and squash; outpost fish camps circled their base camps. When the wild rice was ready to harvest in the fall they would gather in ricing camps. Each summer, the Dakota traveled south for annual buffalo hunts. Moose, elk, deer, bear and small game hunting occurred in all seasons., From 1679 to 1736 the two tribes co-existed peacefully. The Dakota allowed the smaller bands of Ojibwe access to their hunting land in exchange for trade goods which the Ojibwe obtained from French fur traders. Frequent contact led to trading, intermarrying, participating in ceremonies together and creating a common language. However, as greater numbers of Ojibwe migrated south along the St. Croix River tensions arose over territory, food supply and fur trading. The fighting escalated into a war. About 1770, a major battle ended with the creation of an informal boundary between the Dakota and Ojibwe territories near the mouth of Minnesota's Snake River and Grantsberg, Wisconsin. The two nations continued to skirmish into the early 1800's. The Ojibwe incursions spread further south to the headwaters of the Apple River with some raids as far south as Prescott. At this time, the Dakota and Ojibwe were heavily in debt to the Fur Trading companies and environmental degradation was depleting their way of life. From 1825 to 1854 both tribes signed treaties that ceded their land to the United States federal government and opened the land to logging and European settlement. , Source: Time and the River: A History of the Saint Croix - A Historic Resource Study of the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, A white chert arrowhead found on the Otto/Marvin Radke farm between Houlton and Somerset. , Photo Courtesy of St. Croix County Historical Society Photo Collection, Hudson, WI, Multicolored Maize , Source: The Commonwealth of Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Picture of Ojibwe fisherman spear fishing taken in 1908 , Photo by Roland W. Reed, Corn , State Grain

To the Dakota and Ojibwe, life depended on their skills in using the natural resources. They made their own clothing, built their own homes, made their own tools and gathered or hunted for their food. The Ojibwe and Dakota were semi-nomadic people, each season they moved from camp to camp. In the early spring they processed maple syrup into maple sugar in sugar bush camps. Throughout the summer they would gather berries, nuts, roots and wild greens and tend small gardens of corn, beans and squash; outpost fish camps circled their base camps. When the wild rice was ready to harvest in the fall they would gather in ricing camps. Each summer, the Dakota traveled south for annual buffalo hunts. Moose, elk, deer, bear and small game hunting occurred in all seasons.

From 1679 to 1736 the two tribes co-existed peacefully. The Dakota allowed the smaller bands of Ojibwe access to their hunting land in exchange for trade goods which the Ojibwe obtained from French fur traders. Frequent contact led to trading, intermarrying, participating in ceremonies together and creating a common language. However, as greater numbers of Ojibwe

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migrated south along the St. Croix River tensions arose over territory, food supply and fur trading. The fighting escalated into a war. About 1770, a major battle ended with the creation of an informal boundary between the Dakota and Ojibwe territories near the mouth of Minnesota's Snake River and Grantsberg, Wisconsin. The two nations continued to skirmish into the early 1800's. The Ojibwe incursions spread further south to the headwaters of the Apple River with some raids as far south as Prescott. At this time, the Dakota and Ojibwe were heavily in debt to the Fur Trading companies and environmental degradation was depleting their way of life. From 1825 to 1854 both tribes signed treaties that ceded their land to the United States federal government and opened the land to logging and European settlement.
Source: Time and the River: A History of the Saint Croix - A Historic Resource Study of the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway

A white chert arrowhead found on the Otto/Marvin Radke farm between Houlton and Somerset.
Photo Courtesy of St. Croix County Historical Society Photo Collection, Hudson, WI

Multicolored Maize
Source: The Commonwealth of Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Picture

Native American Communities Marker (right) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by McGhiever, September 15, 2023

2. Native American Communities Marker (right)

of Ojibwe fisherman spear fishing taken in 1908
Photo by Roland W. Reed

Corn
State Grain

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Indigenous Peoples and Communities. A significant historical year for this entry is 1679.

Location. 45° 3.535′ N, 92° 46.984′ W. Marker is in Houlton, Wisconsin, in St. Croix County. It can be reached from Hawk Street south of County Highway 35, on the left when traveling south. The marker is on the St. Croix River Crossing Loop Trail, just south of the Blue Star Trailhead. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 70 Houlton School Circle, Houlton WI 54082, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area

and in Western Wisconsin. It is also in the American Midwest,

on the Great Lakes,

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8

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other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Indigenous Communities (here, next to this marker); Western Prairie Restoration (approx. 0.2 miles away); Wisconsin Symbols (approx. 0.4 miles away); Loop Trail Fun Facts (approx. half a mile away); Glacial Landscape (approx. 0.6 miles away); Lower St. Croix River Sandbars (approx. 0.6 miles away); Town of St. Joseph (approx. 0.6 miles away); Houlton Hill History (approx. 0.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Houlton.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 21, 2023, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This page has been viewed 209 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 21, 2023, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.