Yellow Thunder, his squaw, and others, however, soon returned, walking some 50 miles and arriving amid familiar scenes before the troops that had taken them away came back. The chief secured forty acres in the town of Fairfield from the government and there he spent much of his time until his death in 1874.
After the demise of his squaw in 1868, Yellow Thunder lived but little in the log house which stood about three-fourths of a mile northeast of the pillar. A few weeks before his death in November, he located his tent on the bank of the Wisconsin river about a mile north of his land in the woods. Here the neighbors ministered to his simple wants, death resulting from an injury to one of his knees, followed by blood poison.
Pillar Erected
In 1909, it was decided by members of the Sauk County Historical Society to remove the remains of Yellow Thunder and his squaw to a new location, fearing that by clearing and cultivating the land the graves would become obliterated. An excavation was made, the bones were placed in a large vitrified tile, and the cairn erected, the earthen receptacle becoming a part of the boulder-made ossuary. Here, near a familiar trail, not far from the white neighbors with whom the Indians often mingled and sometimes ate, the remains rest in this enduring sepulcher.
From Waubun
The following incidents taken from Wau-Bun, a narrative of the early days at Fort Winnebago, by Mrs. J. H. Kinzie, show some of the characteristics of the squaw of Yellow Thunder.
Among the women with whom I early made acquaintance was the wife of Wau-kaun-zee-kah, the Yellow Thunder. She had accompanied her husband, who was one of the deputation to visit the President, and from that time forth she had been known as "the Washington woman." She had a pleasant, old-acquaintance sort of air in greeting me, as much as to say, "You and I have seen something of the world." No expression of surprise or admiration escaped her lips, as her companions, with childlike laughing simplicity, exclaimed and clapped their hands at the different wonderful objects I showed them. Her deportment said plainly, "Yes, yes, my children, I have seen all these things before." It was not until I put to her ear a tropical shell of which I had a little cabinet, and she heard its murmuring sound, that she laid aside her apathy of manner. She poked her finger into the opening to get at the animal within, shook it violently, then raised it to her ear again, and finally burst into a hearty laugh, and laid it down, acknowledging by her looks, that this was beyond her comprehension.
I had one shell of peculiar beauty—my favorite in the whole collection—a small conch, covered with rich, dark veins. Each of the visitors successively took up this shell, and by words and gestures expressed her admiration, evidently showing that she had an eye for beauty—this was on the occasion of the parting visit of my red daughters.
Shortly after the payment had been completed and the Indians had left, I discovered that my valued shell was missing from the collection. Could it be that one of the squaws had stolen it? It was possible—they would occasionally, though rarely do such things under the influence of strong temptation. I tried to recollect which among the party, looked most likely to have been the culprit. It could not have been the Washington woman—she was partly civilized and knew better.
A few weeks afterward Mrs. Yellow Thunder again made her appearance and carefully unfolding a gay colored chintz shawl, which she carried rolled up in her hand, she produced the shell, and laid it on the table before me. I did not know whether to show by my countenance displeasure at the trick she had played me, or joy at receiving my treasure back again, but at last decided it was the best policy to manifest no emotion whatever.