Bayfield in Bayfield County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

A Turning Point in Place and Time

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, September 25, 2016

1. A Turning Point in Place and Time Marker

Inscription. You are standing at the “turning Point” for the Bayfield Waterfront Walk and across the water is a place of significance where “turning points” in history occurred. Madeline Island, or “Mooningwanekaaning Minis,” the “place of the gold-breasted wood-pecker,” is an ancient native settlement. The Anishinaabe (Ojibwa or Chippewa) lived there well before white explorers started arriving in the 1600s. Madeline became a center for the fur trade for a century and a half. The Treaties of 1842 and 1854 were negotiated at LaPointe on Madeline Island.

“Mooningwanekaaning-minis served as the southern capital of the Anishinaabe nation that stretched among four American states and three Canadian provinces. Ten millennia ago, people walked and canoed the lands surrounding the island, fished the waters and lived in reverence. They had hands, not paws, but they existed as part of a larger community that included relatives with fins, paws, wings, hooves and roots.”

Winona LaDuke, Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg

Erected by Bayfield Heritage Society.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 46° 48.506′

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N, 90° 48.868′ W. Marker is in Bayfield, Wisconsin, in Bayfield County. Marker is at the intersection of South 1st Street and Wilson Street, on the left when traveling south on South 1st Street. Marker is at the entrance to Marina Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 200 South 1st Street, Bayfield WI 54814, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Schooner Pretoria (within shouting distance of this marker); Memorial to Commercial Fishermen of Bayfield (approx. 0.2 miles away); Bayfield Historic Waterfront (approx. ¼ mile away); The Booth Cooperage (approx. 0.3 miles away); Cultural Fire Returns to Stockton Island (approx. 0.4 miles away); Mooningwaanikaaning (approx. 2.3 miles away); Early Vessels (approx. 2.7 miles away); La Pointe Indian Cemetery (approx. 2.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bayfield.

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, September 25, 2016

2. A Turning Point in Place and Time Marker

Upper left inset: Madeline Island in about 1898, looking toward the mainland

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, September 25, 2016

3. A Turning Point in Place and Time Marker

Chief Buffalo

Shoving off from Madeline Island in 1852, Chief Buffalo, in his 90s, traveled by canoe to Sault Ste. Marie, steamer to Detroit, and railroad to Washington, D.C. He helped persuade the government to stop the removal of the Ojibwe from their native lands. In the process, the LaPointe Treaty of 1854 established permanent reservations, including Red Cliff and Bad River. Descendants of Buffalo remain in this region to this day.

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, September 25, 2016

4. A Turning Point in Place and Time Marker

Ojibwe Delegation

Circa 1880

No photograph exists of the 1852 delegation, but at least one of the people in this photograph from 1888, Oshoga, accompanied Chief Buffalo on the earlier trip. Sitting: Edawigijig, Kiskatawag, Wadwaiasoug (on floor), Akewainzee (center), Oshawashkogijig, Nijogijig, Oshoga. Standing: Ogimagijig, Wasigwanabi, and 4 unidentified non-Native men.

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, September 25, 2016

5. A Turning Point in Place and Time Marker

Across the street from the U.S. Coast Guard Station.

Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, September 25, 2016

6. A Turning Point in Place and Time Marker

At the Marina Park

Credits. This page was last revised on September 29, 2016. It was originally submitted on September 27, 2016, by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 515 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on September 27, 2016, by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.