Indian History of Winneshiek County Iowa

When the first home seekers came to Winneshiek county the remains of several Winnebago Indian villages were still in existence. Numerous Indian trails were in evidence in nearly all parts of the county, many of which led to the site of the present city of Decorah. In “Reminiscences of Springfield Township ” Hon. A.  Jacobson states : “The Indians who had inhabited this portion of the country where we settled were removed by government troops two years previous to our arrival. They had evidently intended to return at some future time as they had made large cellar-like holes in the … Read more

The Winnebago tribe is the fourth group of the great Siouan, or Dakota, family. The Wninebagoes were styled by the Sioux, Hotanke, or the “big-voiced people;” by the Chippewas, Winipig, or “filthy water;” by the Sauks and Foxes, Winipyagohagi, or “people of the filthy water.” Allouez spells the name Ovenibigouts. The French frequently called them Puans, or Puants, names often roughly translated Stinkards. The Iowas called them Ochungaraw. They called themselves Ochungurah, or Hotcangara. Dr. J. O. Dorsey, the distinguished authority on the Siouan tribes, states that the Siouan root, “changa,” or “hanga,” signifies “first, foremost, original or ancestral.” Thus … Read more

In each tribe there existed, on the basis of kinship a division, into clans and gentes. The names given to these divisions were usually those of the animals, birds, reptiles, or inanimate objects from which their members claimed descent, or which were regarded as guardian deities common to them all; these were known as their totems. The term “clan” implies descent in the female, and “gens” in the male line. Clans and gentes were generally organized into phratries; and phratries, into tribes. A phratry was an organization for ceremonial and other festivals. The Winnebago social organization was based on two … Read more

October 13, 1846, the Winnebagoes ceded “all claim to land,” and especially their rights on the Neutral Ground, and were given a tract of land selected by the chiefs at Long Prairie, Minn. The Indians were not satisfied with the location, and most of them remained scattered throughout the country. Mr. Henry M. Rice secured the contract to remove these to Minnesota, and employed Moses Paquette, Antoine Grignon,and others to assist him. Antoine Grignon, who is now eighty-four years old and a resident of Wisconsin, says, “I went to school four years with Moses Paquette; he was a Winnebago mixed … Read more

The Winnebagoes are distinctly a timber people, and always confined themselves to the larger streams. In early days their wearing apparel consisted commonly of a breechclout, moccasins, leggings, and robes of dressed skins. The advent among them of the whites enabled them to add blankets, cloths, and ornaments to their scanty wardrobes. Jonathan Emerson Fletcher, the Indian agent at the Turkey river, furnished Mr. Henry R. Schoolcraft, LL. D., at one time Indian agent for Wisconsin Territory and author of “Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States,” a description … Read more

In 1832, One-eyed Decorah married two wives and went to live on the Black river, Wis. He had at least one son, Spoon Decorah. Chas. H. Saunders says. “One-eyed Decorah has one daughter, Mrs. Hester Lowery, still living in Wisconsin. Her Indian name is No-jin-win-ka. She is between eighty-five and ninety years old.” One-eyed Decorah was living in Iowa between I840 and 1848, as Moses Paquette, who went to the Presbyterian school at the Turkey river, says that he saw him while was at school, and Decorah was then an old man. Big Canoe disliked to leave their Iowa reservation. … Read more

Winneshiek, who seems to be a somewhat shadowy character, was a notable chief of the Winnebagoes. It appears that there was a family, like the Decorah family, that took that name. The name Winneshiek is evidently not a Winnebago name, but an Algonquian (that is, Fox) name, and is properly Winnishiga and signifies “a dirty person who is lying down.” He was commonly known by his Fox name. In his own language he was called “Wa-kon-ja-goo-gah,” meaning “Coming Thunder;” he was also called “We-lou-shi-ga,” meaning “ties them up,” or “has them tied up.” It is also said that his name … Read more

The main barracks consisted of the commissioned officer;’ quarters, built of stone, the non-commissioned officers’ quarters. built of logs hewn flat, one soldiers’ quarters (including hospital rooms), built of stone, and another soldiers’ quarters (including church and school rooms), built of flat hewn logs. The soldiers’ quarters were 250 feet long. These four main buildings enclosed a parade- and drill-ground (with a flag-staff at one end), and in turn were enclosed by a stockade twelve feet high and made out of logs hewn flat and set on end in a narrow trench. The top of the stockade consisted of spikes … Read more