Wisconsin is 'home' for Winnebago

     Just when the Winnebago came to Wisconsin is difficult for historians to note. However, once here, these Indians were determined to remain.
     Several efforts were made in the first half of the 19th century to move them to other states, but most of the Winnebagos managed to make their way back.
     Some studying the Winnebago indicate this tribe came from the west and assign them to some of the early effigy mound building Indians.

Probably from south

     
     Evidence indicates they came from the south and worked northward in Wisconsin, first settling around the present Lake Winnebago area.
     Because of effigy mounds found in areas in Wisconsin where the Winnebago settled, some feel their movement could be traced here.
     However, there are no indications of these mounds in states to the east. It is possible they did not become an effigy building people until settling in Wisconsin.
     Another theory published in older accounts suggests the Winnebago came northward from Mexico to escape the Spaniards.

Facts indicate what happened

     The Winnebago are believed closely related to the Sioux. Not only are linguistics similar, but also they did not engage in any inter-tribal warfare similar to fighting between the Fox and Chippewa. The Sioux and Winnebago were allies on many issues and in territorial struggles.
     Winnebago tradition does not include an account of migrations from the east, leading some to believe they may have come to Wisconsin centuries ago. All tribal tradition centers on places within the state.
     Some also believe the Winnebago may have been separated from the Sioux before the 16th century or possibly when the pressure of the white man settling in the east started a push of Indian tribes to the west. This brought other Indian nations to Wisconsin to surround the Winnebago.

Pressured from old homes

     In later years when the Winnebago were pressured out of the Lake Winnebago area, they migrated to the central part of the state. Many settled in the Black River Falls region.
     Here they again bordered territory claimed by the Sioux. The Winnebago were part of the great treaty signing ceremony in 1825 at Prairie du Chien.
     It was only a few years after this that the U.S. government sought to move the Winnebago out of Wisconsin -- to Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Started in 1825

     It started with the 1825 treaty but it wasn't until Sept. 15, 1832 that the first effort was made to move the Winnebago. They agreed to relinquish all lands in south and east Wisconsin and move to "neutral grounds," a tract lying west of the Mississippi River in what is now northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota.
     In a treaty signed in Washington D.C., Oct. 13, 1837, the tribe agreed to give up these lands to accept in return a tract farther north in Minnesota.
     But, in 1848, a small group made its way back to Wisconsin from Long Prairie to swell the ranks of those returning.

Hunt by uprising

     In 1855, the Winnebago agreed to move to Blue Earth near Mankato, Minn., but the Sioux uprising of 1863 caused the whites to be apprehensive about the peaceful Winnebago and they were moved again, to Crow Creek on the Missouri River in North Dakota.
     In 1865 they were moved again, this time to a tract of land in Nebraska which the government had purchased from the Omaha Indians. The move was completed the following year.
     Some of the moves, including the one in 1832, were under duress and were completed only with the aid of soldiers. In fact, upon reaching Winona, some of the Winnebago expressed their determination to go no farther and bloodshed was barely avoided.

Return home

     But before the trouble ended, many managed to slop away and found their way back to Wisconsin. Others went to Nebraska to join the Ottawa.
     So many of the Winnebago had made their way back to Wisconsin that in 1873-74 there was another effort made with help of the military to move them to Nebraska.
     However, in 1875 the government gave up and allowed the Winnebago to homestead lands in Wisconsin. They had to build houses and improve lands to meet the requirement.
     Other than the very early whites who attempted to build sawmills in Winnebago territory before the 1825 treaty, the great majority of white settlers found the Winnebago to be friendly and peaceful and often exchanged food with them.

-- Jim Fisher

Extracted from the Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Special Publication, Our Story 'The Chippewa Valley and Beyond', published 1976
Used with permission.