The Chippewa and Sioux Indians roamed this area before the French fur traders came trapping fur bearing animals which were plentiful along the Eau Galle River.
The real history of the village of Eau Galle began in 1838-39 when a sawmill was . . . — — Map (db m32868) HM
When Ojibwa Indians ceded their Chippewa Valley lands to the United States in 1837, Yankee and Canadian lumbermen rushed westward to explore the region's vast white pine forests. At this meeting plasce of two rivers, Eau Claire provided an . . . — — Map (db m74636) HM
The 1849 Ojibwe delegation to Washington, D.C. carried this pictograph depicting Ojibwe clans with their eyes and hearts connected to the chain of wild rice lakes south of Lake Superior. Drawing by Seth Eastman from Henry Schoolcraft's . . . — — Map (db m75477) HM
Native Americans developed a network of trails and routes later used by the British and French to explore the vast wilderness of the Chippewa Valley. An economy based on the trade of furs, tools, food, clothing, blankets, jewelry and . . . — — Map (db m75500) HM
Named by French voyageurs who accompanied the explorer, Jonathan Carver and his Indian guides as they ascended the river in the summer of 1767 Eau Claire means clear water — — Map (db m43318) HM
The Military Road, built in 1835, became the first highway to cross the state. Congress appropriated $5,000 to connect the St. Lawrence and Mississippi River basins.
The troops at Fort Crawford constructed the road from Prairie du Chien to . . . — — Map (db m46182) HM
Created as a tribute to the American Indian by James Earle Fraser (1876–1953) when only 17. His twice life-sized plaster replica gained world fame at the 1915 San Franciso Exposition. Clarence Shaler, Waupun industrialist, commissioned . . . — — Map (db m25403) HM
This is the home of the Sokoagon Band of the Chippewa tribe. According to tradition handed down from one generation to the next, the first chief of the Band was Getshee Ki-ji-wa-be-she-shi, or the Great Marten.
Each summer the Sokoagon Band . . . — — Map (db m33479) HM
Long before people came to what we now call Wisconsin, the Ice Age shaped the land.
The lower Wisconsin River Valley looks as it does today because the glaciers covering eastern and northern Wisconsin 10,000 years ago melted . . . — — Map (db m46757) HM
About 11,000 years ago, Native people moved into what is now Wisconsin. In the Chippewa [Ojibwe] language, Wisconsin means "gathering of the waters."
The Native American found a land of many possibilities. Animals such as mammoth, . . . — — Map (db m46772) HM
Willard was 26 when he volunteered to join the Lewis & Clark expedition. He served primarily as a blacksmith and hunter and knew some carpentry and gun repair; all skills called upon during the Corps of Discovery's journey. Alexander, wife . . . — — Map (db m237900) HM
The original inhabitants of Sinsinawa Mound were Native Americans
who called it "Manitoumie", meaning
"land where the Spirit dwells".
In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, George Wallace Jones built a fort to
protect area settlers and his . . . — — Map (db m218533) HM
The Native Americans who occupied this land 10,000 years before the arrival of European settlers referred to this magnificent body of water as Daycholah. From lookouts like this, Native Americans viewed the lake and paid homage to "the spirit who . . . — — Map (db m69373) HM
In June, 1832, an alarm spread throughout the mining region that Black Hawk and his band were on the march north from Illinois. Hastily built stockades were erected throughout the lead region. Fort Jackson was built on this site using vertically . . . — — Map (db m32065) HM
For centuries Native Americans and voyagers using the Flambeau Trail carried their birch bark canoes and cargo across the wide “plain” where you are standing, between Echo Lake (called Big Turtle Lake) and Grand Portage Lake (Little . . . — — Map (db m45097) HM
In days of yesteryear, traveling south on the Flambeau Trail, you arrived at Big Turtle Lake (now Echo Lake) and Little Turtle Lake (now called either Grand Portage Lake or Tank Lake) to what is now Mercer. At Echo Lake you had a choice depending on . . . — — Map (db m46687) HM
You are standing on the ancient Flambeau Trail, an important route for commerce for Native Americans, voyagers, and explorers travelling between settlements at LaPointe on Madeline Island and Lac du Flambeau 90 miles to the south.
Until railroads . . . — — Map (db m45096) HM
Apostle Islands Scenic View
You are looking out over the Chequamegon Bay region and Apostle Islands which comprises 22 Islands that form an archipelago about 30 miles long and 18 miles wide.
All except one of the Islands (Long Island) are . . . — — Map (db m125029) HM
The most popular gateway to the Flambeau Trail started here, on the shore of Oronto Bay. Also known as the “Montreal River Trail”, it was the only route inland into the dense virgin forest until the late 1880’s.
The Trail was an . . . — — Map (db m45095) HM
This large, isolated hill is a famous site where prehistoric Indians gathered to quarry a particularly attractive quartzite for the manufacture of chipped stone tools. Several aboriginal quarries are scattered along the rimrock of this mound. . . . — — Map (db m3195) HM
This plaque commemorates the memory and deed of Andrew Blackhawk who gave the land of the current Winnebago powwow grounds to his tribe with the hope that it would be used by his people for a common gathering site. This 10 acres of land became . . . — — Map (db m108385) HM
Mitchell RedCloud, Jr. was born on July 2, 1924 near Hatfield, Jackson County, Wisconsin to Mitchell and Nellie RedCloud.
During World War II, he served in the Marine Corps from 1941 to 1945. At the age of 16 he served with the Carlson . . . — — Map (db m80125) HM
Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courageous action in battle between U.S. troops and Chinese Communists near Chonghyon, Korea, Nov. 5, 1950. Red Cloud’s Company was entrenched beside Hill . . . — — Map (db m1865) HM
The first white man to farm this land was Robert Douglas in 1839. Known as the Webb Farm for 60 years. The Plaffs purchased in 1962, and their children Tom A. and Sarah Pfaff-Clements & six grandchildren continue to make it a family farm with . . . — — Map (db m80325) HM
Winnebago Indians call themselves “Hochunkgra.” A Siouan people, they once occupied the southern half of Wisconsin and the northern counties of Illinois. The Black Hawk War of 1832 and a series of treaties forced the Winnebago out of . . . — — Map (db m3425) HM
Agriculture is a hallmark of Mississippian food production. The people of Aztalan grew corn, squash and other domesticated plants. These plants were not native to the area, but were introduced by Indian peoples over the millennia (squash as early as . . . — — Map (db m176720) HM
Based on European explorers' descriptions, contemporary artists, along with archaeologists and others, have depicted a variety of clothing types worn by Mississippian peoples living throughout the southeastern part of the continent. The clothing . . . — — Map (db m176679) HM
Typically associated with burials, conical (circular shaped) mounds are the most common and earliest of Midwestern mound types, first occurring early in the Woodland Period (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 1350). However, several of the conical mounds located . . . — — Map (db m176718) HM
Houses at Aztalan include examples of building styles typical of both Late Woodland and Mississippian construction techniques. Late Woodland structures tend to have circular floor plans with wall posts set into individual post holes, and were . . . — — Map (db m176719) HM
Prehistoric Indian communities engaged in a variety of leisure activities, like the games of "ring and pin" and lacrosse, which are well-known and still played today. While evidence of recreational activities at archaeological sites is often . . . — — Map (db m176677) HM
Stone tools indicate that Aztalan was occupied off and on for at least 10,000 years. A substantial Late Woodland village occupied this location for many years before the arrival of Mississippian people who built and inhabited Aztalan from about 1100 . . . — — Map (db m176681) HM
While pottery and stone tools are the most common and durable artifacts found at Aztalan, other items were crafted of animal bone, shell, and copper. Shell was fashioned into spoons, pendants, and beads, and native copper was used to make fishhooks, . . . — — Map (db m176671) HM
Platform mounds (also called "pyramidal" or "flat-top" mounds) were typically built to support buildings. These buildings were religious or other specialized structures or homes for the elite members of Mississippian society. Platform mounds were . . . — — Map (db m176717) HM
Pottery sherds (pieces) are one of the most commonly recovered artifacts found at Aztalan. Pottery analysis is an important research tool. Understanding how prehistoric people made and used pottery provides important clues about their daily lives. . . . — — Map (db m176675) HM
The people who built and occupied the prehistoric village of Aztalan (ca. A.D. 1100 - 1250) replicated major features found at the much larger Middle Mississippian site of Cahokia near modern day St. Louis. An outer stockade with bastions . . . — — Map (db m176659) HM
Specialized crafts, extensive trade networks, and construction of large structures (stockades and mounds) demonstrates a high degree of social organization and complexity. Aztalan's layout, with communal structures atop the Northeast and Southwest . . . — — Map (db m176680) HM
Tools made of stone, as well as the by-products of making stone tools, are the longest lasting and most common artifact types archaeologists encounter. Tool production was a specialized craft by this time and Mississippian stoneworkers created . . . — — Map (db m176667) HM
Mississippian people settled over much of eastern North America during the Late Prehistoric period. The people who built and occupied Aztalan (ca. A.D. 1100 - 1250) replicated major features found at the principal Mississippian site and ceremonial . . . — — Map (db m176662) HM
Indian peoples occupied this area off and on for many years before a new group of Indian people arrived who built the large mounds and other prehistoric features that now characterize Aztalan, a federally-designated National Historic Landmark. The . . . — — Map (db m176657) HM
A large Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Village dating from the 1700s once stood in this vicinity. Just before the 1832 Black Hawk War, the village was burned during an intra-tribal battle. On July 6th and 8th, the United States Military camped at this site in . . . — — Map (db m31764) HM
"Whilst lying here we have thrown up a stockade work flanked by four block houses for the security of our supplies and the accomodation of the sick," wrote General Henry Atkinson of this spot in his army report to General Winfield Scott on July 17, . . . — — Map (db m31765) HM
Between AD 650 and 1200, groups of Native Americans throughout the southern half of Wisconsin and portions of adjacent states built earthen mounds of various shapes and sizes, including mounds shaped like animals, today called effigy mounds. The 11 . . . — — Map (db m31766) HM
Discovered in 1850 by Increase A. Lapham, this is the only known intaglio Effigy mound in the world. It was excavated for ceremonial purposes by American Indians of the Effigy Mound Culture about 1000 A.D. A part of the tail has been covered. Of ten . . . — — Map (db m82646) HM
Indian people lived at Aztalan between AD 900 and 1200. The village encompassed 20 acres and was well-planned. The inhabitants planted corn, beans and squash, hunted wild game, fished and collected native plants for food. An elite group of . . . — — Map (db m37429) HM
Site of the famous prehistoric Indian stockade-protected village known as Aztalan first described by N.F. Hyer in the Milwaukee Advertiser in January 1837. Described by Dr. Increase A. Lapham, in The Antiquities of Wisconsin in 1855. . . . — — Map (db m35296) HM
Ancient people built this mound to mark a young woman's grave. The mound was the last in a line that once bordered the western side of the ancient community of Aztalan and the only one that contained a burial. Her community placed the young woman on . . . — — Map (db m35479) HM
During the Black Hawk War of 1832, General Atkinson camped near this location on two occasions. On July 7th, Atkinson led his entire militia, including future President's Abraham Lincoln and Zachary Taylor here. On July 19th, Atkinson returned . . . — — Map (db m31762) HM
On July 18th, during the Black Hawk War of 1832, Little Thunder – a Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian guide to the U.S. Militia – discovered Black Hawk’s Band crossed the Rock River in this vicinity. After receiving the news, Gen. James D. . . . — — Map (db m35453) HM
Mrs Salter killed here by the Indians June 13 – 1863
2 Indians Jo and Jim Dandy killed by Salter and burried here This ax handle killed the 2 Indians and Mrs. Salter
Puck-a-Gee — — Map (db m31455) HM
Native American canoes launched America’s maritime legacy about 12,000 years ago, making them among the world’s oldest watercraft.
Ancient dugout canoes are occasionally preserved when environmental conditions are just right. The canoe above . . . — — Map (db m57837) HM
As early as 1795, the Potawatomi had a mile-long village on the Pike River near here. Fur trader Jacques Vieau Sr.’s son, Peter, wrote the village was called “Kee-neau-sha-Kau-ning,” meaning “the pickerel’s abiding place,” and it “was noted for the . . . — — Map (db m189972) HM
Over 12,000 years ago, Native Americans slaughtered a Northern Woolly Mammoth in a small lake near this site. Between 1992-93, the Kenosha Public Museum excavated the site and concluded that the woolly mammoth stood at 11 feet and weighed 14,000 . . . — — Map (db m38569) HM
In 1673, thirty-nine years after Jean Nicolet visited the Green Bay area, Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet set out from New France to explore the Mississippi River. They traveled from the Straits of Mackinac between lakes Huron and . . . — — Map (db m36671) HM
Storm driven and without food, in October 1679, Robert LaSalle, with fourteen men, on a voyage to explore the interior of America, landed at this place. Expecting hostile Indians he erected a barricade. But instead of war they brought provisions . . . — — Map (db m205475) HM
As the available land to the south became more difficult to obtain, new arrivals began to gravitate northward. In this valley through which flows the East Twin River, many found what they were looking for. This area had been known to the . . . — — Map (db m77602) HM
Dr. D. Franklin "Doc" Powell was indisputably one of La Crosse's most flamboyant residents of the late 19th century. He was a tall, handsome man with an imposing bearing, said to be both gentleman and scoundrel, a "man for the people" and an . . . — — Map (db m185919) HM
The city of La Crosse was named for the American Indian game which the French christened "La Crosse." On this site hard fought matches were played by the Winnebago peoples.
The welded, COR-TEN steel sculpture was designed and fabricated by . . . — — Map (db m213043) HM
This reproduction of an 1883 map shows the relative location of four mounds at that time. The two mounds that have been destroyed are shown in the outline.
These two mounds a round mound and a mound in the shape (or effigy) of an animal, . . . — — Map (db m141968) HM
This park, on the site of a Winnebago village, commemorates an heroic descendant of those people, Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr. Fighting in Korea in 1950 as a member of the 24th Army Division, Corporal Red Cloud bravely held off an enemy attack . . . — — Map (db m8534) HM
Because of the fertile soil and lush woodlands on the river shores, the Winnebago Indians settled in this area in 1772. Sixty years later they ceded these lands to the U.S. Government. In 1842, Nathan Myrick, the first white settler in La Crosse, . . . — — Map (db m8538) HM
This is the location of a village occupied between 1000 and 1200 by the Oneota, ancestors of the Winnebago and Ioway. The village site was chosen by the Oneota to make the best use of the area for farming, fishing, hunting, transportation, and . . . — — Map (db m15402) HM
In honor of
Pere Rene
Menard
Born at Paris Sept. 7th, 1605
entered the Jesuit order
Nov. 7th, 1624.
Sailed for Quebec in March
1640. Lost hereabouts in
July 1661, while enroute
to Huron village to baptize
Indian refugees.
. . . — — Map (db m125043) HM
Many modern highways follow routes marked out long ago by Indian people. The Winnebago Trail across central Wisconsin became the general course of Highways 151 from Manitowoc to Fond du Lac, 45 from Fond du Lac to Oshkosh, 21 from Oshkosh . . . — — Map (db m32499) HM
In 1847, Daniel Smith, a lumberman from New York, plotted a small village around his dam and sawmill on the river here, naming it for his friend Old Chief Mishicott. Old Chief Mishicott, a Potawatomi leader, is also the namesake of the Town of . . . — — Map (db m226255) HM
For hundreds of years, the Potawatomi village of Ma-Kah-Da-We-Kah-Mich-Cock (Black Earth) was located on this spot. The people lived in huts made of bark. They raised crops of corn, beans, pumpkin and squash, and lived off abundant fish and game. . . . — — Map (db m39476) HM
Son of a Menominee Indian Princess •
Son-in-Law of Chief Oshkosh •
Treaty-Maker • Interpreter •
Indian Trader • Firm Friend of White Men. — — Map (db m1780) HM
This river is named after the Menominees who lived here until they moved to the Wolf River in the 1850's. The Menominee River served as the main artery of commerce until the 1850's. Indians and fur traders moved their furs downriver in canoes to a . . . — — Map (db m15956) HM
Indian chief's daughter after whom Marinette City and county were named. Southerly about 60 feet stood her home and trading post from 1846 to 1895. — — Map (db m39244) HM
Of nine million acres of land in Wisconsin originally controlled by the Menominee, they chose the surrounding Keshena Falls as their present reservation. Because sturgeon were so important to the Menominee, so too was the falls. It was here that . . . — — Map (db m59802) HM
When Nicolet in 1634 stepped ashore not far from the present site of Green Bay, the Menominees were living in peace with their neighbors on both sides of the Menominee River, on the present sites of Menominee, Michigan, and Marinette, Wisconsin. . . . — — Map (db m13622) HM
One night long ago a Menominee Indian dreamed that Manabush, grandson of Ko-Ko-Mas-Say-Sa-Now (the Earth) and part founder of the Mitawin or Medicine Society, invited him to visit the god. With seven of his friends the Indian called on Manabush who . . . — — Map (db m13602) HM
The Root River system began forming about 20,000 years ago when Wisconsin’s glaciers began to retreat. Starting in eastern New Berlin, it flows through southwest Milwaukee County before entering Lake Michigan at the city of Racine (French for . . . — — Map (db m81350) HM
Indian villagers are credited with giving Milwaukee its name, which may have derived from Mahnawauk, Meolaki or Milwacky. Those words may be references to the Milwaukee River or a medicinal plant, but the most common translation is "good land." . . . — — Map (db m38882) HM
For more than 12,000 years, the Menomonee Valley was home to American Indian people. The Menomonee Valley, with its abundant plants and wildlife, was attractive to early hunters and gatherers. From about 500 BC to 1200 AD, the native people built . . . — — Map (db m141785) HM
Native plants are those species that were growing here before humans brought in plants from distant places. Native plants provide food and shelter to support birds, insects, fish, and animals. They provided food and medicine for Native Americans and . . . — — Map (db m141782) HM
From this point due westward the first white settlers found a succession of Indian campsites. These camps were located near natural springs in the heavily wooded area north of the Waukesha Indian Trail. — — Map (db m93690) HM
The last of a group of Indian Mounds formerly located on a Stone Age village site near this spot and destroyed in recent years. Several were of larger size. Also the last of many fine groups of burial, linear, and animal shaped mounds formerly . . . — — Map (db m68031) HM
Father Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary who with Sieur Louis Jolliet discovered and first explored the upper Mississippi in 1673, stayed on this site November 23-27, 1674. Marquette, with two French Canadians, Pierre Porteret and . . . — — Map (db m30169) HM
This spot, in 1833, was the site of an Indian village under the Potawatomi chief Kenozhoym, or “Lake Pickerel.” The village was located near a clear spring, at the foot of a steep bluff, atop which were more wigwams and an Indian . . . — — Map (db m56265) HM
Ho-Chunk histories indicate that this area has long been an important gathering place known as Tee Sisikeja (Bad Waters Village). Here, ancestors of the Ho-Chunk constructed burial sites for loved ones in the form of mounds, a practice that dates . . . — — Map (db m208429) HM
Hunting ground of the
"Muskwaki" (Fox) Indians.
Settled by J. E. Rathbone in
1855
Prospered as a stage coach stop
with churches, hotels, general
stores and mills. — — Map (db m118453) HM
When this site was selected for a settlement in 1855, one of its founders read in an old history of the state that the Menominee Chief Tomah had at one time gathered his tribe in this vicinity for a conference.
He suggested the name "Tomah" for . . . — — Map (db m3960) HM
The Couillardville area covers approximately one and one half miles along the Lower Oconto River Valley. The area is filled with archeological sites extending from Paleo-Indian through the Historic Indian occupations. South of this site on the north . . . — — Map (db m139711) HM
On December 2, 1669, the Eve of St. Francis, Father Claude Allouez arrived at Oconto, then a village of about 600 Indians. Here Allouez founded the Mission of St. Francois Xavier, the first mission in north eastern Wisconsin. Six French fur traders . . . — — Map (db m13440) HM
Oconto Site has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935. This site possesses exceptional value in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States . . . — — Map (db m139709) HM
At this site approximately 4,500 years ago, Wisconsin Indians gathered to bury their dead. Because of their use of copper tools, weapons and ornaments, this group became known as the Old Copper people. They fashioned spearpoints, knives and . . . — — Map (db m58143) HM
Captain Hendrick Aupaumut (1757-1830) was a member of the Stockbridge Indian Tribe. As Historian, he translated the Catechism & Bible into the Indian language for his people. Enlisted in Revolutionary War in Colonel Patterson's Regiment in 1775. . . . — — Map (db m242578) HM
In this area, part of the Statesburg settlement, are the graves of Hendrick Aupaumut and Jacob Konkapot, Stockbridge Indians of Massachusetts. Captain Aupaumut won the notice of George Washington. Able tribal counselor, he served as envoy to western . . . — — Map (db m22449) HM
The Treaty of the Cedars was concluded on the Fox River near here September 3, 1836. Under the treaty the Menominee Indian nation ceded to the United States about 4,000,000 acres of land for $700,000 (about 17 cents per acre). The area now contains . . . — — Map (db m2490) HM
In our ancient past, Wisconsin was crossed by a system of trails first forged by deer and elk as they migrated in search of good weather, food and salt. Native Americans used the Paths as they hunted, traded, and made war in troubled times. Some . . . — — Map (db m66620) HM
Lake Michigan and its feeder tributaries have been continually fished for centuries, first by Indigenous populations and much later by European and American settlers. This peninsula of land, where Sauk Creek empties into Lake Michigan, was the . . . — — Map (db m223749) HM
An important American Indian village once stood in this vicinity near the Milwaukee River, the meeting point of two major Indian trails that lead west toward the Mississippi River and north toward Green Bay. In the 1830’s, Menominee, Sauk, and . . . — — Map (db m31241) HM
The story of Maiden Rock has several versions. One by Mary Eastman was published in 1849. She heard the story from an old Indian friend, Checkered Cloud, who firmly believed the event happened around 1700. A more romantic version in verse was . . . — — Map (db m10052) HM
The rock outline you see on the distant bluff is an archeological curiosity. Jacob V. Brower, a Minnesota archeologist, observed this formation in 1902 and interpreted it as a bow and arrow. In 1903 he wrote, "Some of the stones representing the . . . — — Map (db m9943) HM
In 1834 John Baptiste Du Bay established a trading post on the Wisconsin River one mile east of here for the American Fur Company. His wife was Princess Madeline, daughter of Oshkosh, Chief of the Menominee Indians. According to tradition, Du Bay’s . . . — — Map (db m1770) HM
On July 27, 1894 forest fires racing through dry timber slashings descended on Phillips from three directions. Within a matter of hours the city of 2500 persons lay in smoldering ruins. More than 400 homes, the business district, a new tannery and . . . — — Map (db m47236) HM
