The Calumet County seal, or insignia, as copied from Orrin W. Meyer's booklet, Se Souvenir.[/caption]On the east shore of Lake Winnebago, Calumet County was home to the Stockbridge and Brothertown Indians both before and after Wisconsin became a state. Of course, before those "New York Indians" came on the scene, people were already living in what is now Calumet County, Wisconsin.
In 1964, Orrin W. Meyer, the Calumet County Agricultural agent (he may have already been retired by that time), typed up a history of Calumet County. Se Souvenir was the title of his booklet. On the first page, Meyer tells us about the original Natives in the area.
What is Calumet County now was, at various times, the home of six Indian Nations. These were the Menominee, Chippewa, Sac, Fox, Potawatomi and Winnebago. All were of eastern Algonquian stock except the Winnebagoes [now known as Ho-Chunk]. The Winnebagoes [Ho-Chunk] migrated from the west and were of the Dakotas, tracing their lineage to the Sioux. the Algonquians were peaceful and easy going....
Not so with the Winnebagoes [Ho-Chunk]. They were war-like, treacherous and scheming.
I don't know enough about the Ho-Chunk to comment directly on that authoritatively (but my gut reaction is that it is a harsh judgment). Maybe Meyer should have left that part out of his history. However, I should point out that Meyer probably wasn't just taking a jab at the Ho-Chunk for absolutely no reason. At least in his mind, he was setting up his explanation for the naming of Calumet County.
The coming of the white man plus the six Indian Nations took some doing to get along. Many councils were held on the east shore of Lake Winnebago. Many times the pipe of peace was passed from chief to chief as he made a solemn pledge and puffed on the calumet, a reed pipe. The French would likewise council with the Indians and it was they who called the peace pipe the calumet. It is by this derivation that Calumet County gets its name (pages 1-2).
In future posts I'll have more from Se Souvenir by Orrin Meyer.
Depends on what was going on with their tribe at the time. I mean anyone can be "Warlike" if the situation calls for it. If anyone was "Warlike" it was the Europeans. They caused more death and destruction in the short time being here compared to any Native tribe precontact.
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Thanks for commenting Shawn.
ReplyDeleteMy ancestor, Franklin Bourne, in the 1850's came from Massachusettes, settled as farmers on the edge of Lake Winnebago and had Indians as neighbors. Stories handed down from my relatives told me that they were great friends, shared meals, friendships through the years. There was no stories about their Indian friends being warlike. But at that time they were citizens out of necesity of keeping their land, when the goverment decided all Indians should be forced to leave and stay on the West side of the Mississippi river. I have been researching their move from Massachusettes to New York, to Wisconsin. Sounds like the only war like people was the government greedy for their land, using Congress to make it legal to be war like so the Indians land could be taken from them one way or the other. Legal stealing, from peaceful people that were just trying to survive by smoke that peace pipe with whiteman.
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