Like a Deer Chased by the Dogs The Life of Chief Oshl(osh BY SCOTT CROSS FOR THE OSHKOSH PUBLIC MUSEUM CopyrighL@ 2002 by the OSHKOSH PUBLIC MUSEUM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Printing or this publication was made possible in pan by a donation from Casile-Pierce Printing Co. Contents Introduction .. ·· ··· ····· ···· ··· ·· ·· ··········· ····· ···· ·· v The Life of Chief Oshkosh The Menominee of Wisconsin ... .... ... .............. ... ...... .. ..... I Oshkosh tbe Brave . l War of 1812 ..... ... ...................... .. ... ..... ................... ... 2 Treaty of 1827 .................... ......................................... 3 Winnebago War of 1827 ........... ... ..... ... ... ... ....... ......... ... .. 6 The Murder Trial .................. ... ... ... ... ............... ..... ..... .. 8 Council of I 830 .. .. ... .... ..... ...... ... .. .. .. .... ............ ... ... 10 Black Hawk War ... .. .. ... .. ..... .... ..... .... .. .. .... ................ 12 Cedar Point Treaty of 1836 . ............ ... ....... ..... .. .. .. .... 14 Annual Payment .... ........... ...... ........ ............................ I 5 A Council Meeting in 1845 .......... .................................. 23 Lake Poygan Treaty of 1848 ............ .. ............................. 24 Murder of Oshkosh's Adopted Son .... ......... ............. ......... 26 Trips to Minnesota and Washington, D.C. ... .. .. ... .... ........ .. .. 27 Treaty of 1854 . ... ..... .. ... ................... .... 29 The Lost Partridge Child .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 30 Treaty of 1856 ..... ...... ...... .. ................ .............. .. ... .. .. 33 Reservation Life and the Death of Chief Oshkosh .. ........... .. .. 33 Who's Buried in Oshkosh's Tomb? ... .............................. .. 35 Recollections of Chief Oshkosh ...... .... ... .. ................... ..... 36 Conclusion ..................................... .. ......................... 39 Further Reading .. ............................................ .. .. .... .. 41 Images of Chief Oshkosh Paul Kane Sketch ... ....... .. .... ... .......... .... ..... ... .. .. ... .. 43 The Woodcut Engraving ........ .. ... ...... ..... ... ... ..... .. .. .. 45 The Second Oshkosh Daguerreotype . ... ... .. .. .... ......... ... ... 51 The Brookes Painting ........... .. .... .. .... .. .. ................... .. 53 Notes . 55 Index .. .. 59 Ill ·~ . Introduction Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the Lake Winnebago region is familiar with the image of Chief Oshkosh in his tall beaver hat, coat with tails, and his steel-eyed gaze. The city of Oshkosh, a beer company, and numerous other business concerns have used his name and image. Even a bronze statue of a talJ muscular Indian stands in Menominee Park over his supposed grave. But who was the real Chief Oshkosh of the Menominee? Folklore concerning his raucous drinking behavior has come down over the last one hundred and fifty years and is sometimes difficult to separate from fact. He has been both vilified and praised for the treaties he signed with the federal government. The only publication that attempts to give an account of his life is the Story of Oshkosh: His Tribe and Fellow Chiefs, written by local historian Publius V. Lawson about 1900. Lawson devotes a scant ten pages exclusively to Chief Oshkosh. Most state and local history books only include a paragraph or two concerning his life. Amazingly, there has never been any serious effort to fully document the life of this great man. Fortunately, there are clues to his life from many different and varied sources. Eady Wisconsin Historian Lyman C. Draper bad the forethought to conduct interviews with dozens of early pioneers. He also collected manuscripts and diaries, which were published in the Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. From these interviews and recollections came many accounts of the life of Chief Oshkosh. Travelers to Wisconsin Territory also recorded their observations. Among these published accounts are also stories of the Menominee Chief. It is from these and other sources that we hope to be able to compile a more complete picture of the real man. v Like a Deer Chased by the Dogs The Life of Chief Oshkosh The Menominee of Wisconsin The Menominee are an Algonquian-speaking wood land tribe. Europeans first encountered them when French ex pl orer Sieur Jean Nicolet visited the mouth of the Fox River at Green Bay in I 634. Their domain included all the land between the mouth of the Fox River at Green Bay in the north, the Milwaukee River to the south, Lake Michigan in the east, and the Mississippi River in the west. The tribe lived primarily along the Fox, Wolf. and Wisconsin Rivers where they fished, hunted and gathered wild rice. There is no reliable record of the size of the tribe prior to the nineteenth century, but the highest estimate ranges to about 2,500 persons. 1 The tribe allied itself with the French at an earl y elate, as did many of the other northern tribes. The French occupied a post at Le Bay (now the city of Green Bay) from 1726 until 1761. This opened the way for French fur traders who became intimate friends with the Menominee. The bond was further strengthened when many of the French men married Menominee women. At the end of the French and Indian War, the post at Green Bay was occupied by a detachment of seventeen British soldiers and its name was changed to Fo11 Edward Augustus. The Menominee be friended the British and in 1763, when the post was threatened by attack, they escorted the garrison to the safety of Fort Mackinaw. This friendship continued through the War of 18 J 2 and in 1816 the Menominee signed a treaty of peace with the Untied States.2 Oshkosh the Brave Oshkosh was the grandson of Chakauchokarna, also known as Shawano or the Old King. who was for many years the head chief of the Menominee tribe. Oshkosh was born in 1795 at Chakau­ chokama's village, located on the Fox River across from the seulement of Green Bay. Wisconsin. This had been the ancestral home of the Menominee since before the arrival of Nicolet in 1634.3 He would marry three times during his life and have fo ur survivi ng children. Hi s first wife Bambani bore him Akwinemi, Niopel, and Koshkanoq ue. Following her death he manied Shakanouiu. Hi s third wife was Tomokoum who had a daughter named Kinoke.4 War of 1812 The Menominee tribe sent a party of one hundred waJTiors under the command of Chief Tomah to join with the British Army during the War of 181 2. Among this group was a seventeen-year-old warrior named Oshkosh. Tomah, also spelled Tomau, was born Thomas Caron, the second son of a half-blood Frenchman and Menom inee woman.5 Hi s father was Claude Caron, a Menominee war chief also known as Chief De Karey or Decorah. Decorah's father was Sebrevoi r De Carie who had been a French officer. He died April 28, 1760 6 after being mortally wounded while fi ghting the British at Quebec. Tomah was not the hereditary chief of the tribe, but was considered the chief in authority. When the celebrated Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, had appealed to the Menominee in 18 10 10 join him in hi s confederation of tri bes and begin raiding white setllements, Tomah refu sed. However, he wou ld later all y hi mselr with the B1itish. In July 18 12, Bri tish Colonel Robert Dickson led a force in the capture of Fort Mack in aw, Michigan from the Americans. Oshkosh and the Menominee were present at the surrender. Reportedly, it was during Lh is campaign against the Americans that Oshkosh came under the wi ng of Tomah. The following year General Henry A. Proctor and Colonel Roberr Di ckson led the Menominee in an unsuccessful attack against Fort Sandusky, Ob.io. The Menominee also participated in the 181 4 Battle of Mackinaw where the American Major Andrew H. Holmes was killed. The treaty that was signed with the Uni ted States in 1816 by the Menominee chiefs, including Tomah, gave permission to build Fort Howard at Green Bay.7 2 like a Deer Chased by the Dogs Treaty of 1827 About 1825, the head chie f of the Menominee died without leav­ ing a male heir. As a result, the tribe was nol properly represented at the Prairie du Chjen Treaty of 1825. There was contention between the various bands over who should succeed him.8 The main purpose of this treaty was to establish tribal bound aries between the Menominee, Winnebago, and Chippewa tribes and the purchase of land, which is now the city of Green Bay.9 Conrinued disputes concerning the special land agreement of 182 1 with the New York Indians al so led to the lreaty meeting al Little Butte des Morts on August 6-11, I 827. One of the problems in the negoti­ ations with the Menominee was the fact that there was no recognized head chief of the tribe. At the opening of the meeting, Michigan Territorial Governor Lewis Cass addressed the tribe, We have observed for some time lhe Menomi nee to be in a bad situation as to their chiefs. There is no one we can talk to as the head of the nati on. If anything should happen, we want some man, who has authori ty in the nation, that we can look to. You appear li ke a nock of geese, without a leader, some fly one way and some another. Tomorrow, at the openjng of the council, we shall appoint a principal chief of the Menominee. We shall make enquiry this afternoon, and try to select the proper man. We shal l give him the medal. and expect the Menomjnee to respect him.10 On the following day the head of the Indian Office, Thomas L. McKenney, spoke to the tribe, Your great Father, who li ves in the Great Vill age towards the rising sun, has heard confused sounds from the lands where hi s Menominee children hunt. He thinks it is because there are too many mouths here and that all speak at once. He wants one mouth. that he may hear more disti nctly. and one pair of ears to hear through, and a pair of eyes to see for him. He said to The life ofChief Oshkosh 3 your rather and me -GO, select from my Menominee children the best man and make him Chief. Give him good things. Put a Medal around his neck, and a robe over his shoulders, and give him a flag.