CHIEF OSHKOSH (PORTRAIT BY S. M. BROOKS, COURTESY OF THE WISCONSIN STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY).
British control of Wisconsin’s Indians did not cease with the end of the Revolutionary War. Despite the British agreement in the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, to turn over their posts at Niagara, Detroit, and Michillimackinac, they continued to hold these forts until after the Jay Treaty of 1794. It was not until October, 1796, that Mackinac, the last post to be turned over by the British, was officially occupied by American troops. The British, however, still maintained their control over Wisconsin’s Indians through the fur trade now operating from posts just across the Canadian border.
Within a month after the declaration of war against England by the American Congress in 1812, Mackinac was retaken by the British and Menomini and Winnebago Indians from Wisconsin. Among the Menomini were chiefs Tomah and Oshkosh, the latter destined to become a famous Menomini leader and friend of the Americans. Within another month Fort Dearborn (at Chicago) was attacked by Indians and most of its civilian and military inhabitants massacred. Menomini, Potawatomi, and Winnebago Indians from Wisconsin took part in this attack.
MENOMINI WARRIOR (FROM INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA).
The Americans were well aware of the strategic importance of Prairie du Chien in any attempt to control Wisconsin’s Indians. In June, 1814, Fort Shelby, probably the first building over which an American flag ever flew in Wisconsin, was erected at this strategic location. Lt. Perkins and sixty men were left in charge at the fort.
The British quickly determined to drive out the Americans and succeeded in forcing Perkins to surrender the fort on July 19, 1814. About 500 Indians, mostly Menomini, Chippewa, Winnebago, and Sioux, took part in the assault on the American post.
The British renamed the post Fort McKay and managed to hold it against the Americans until, in agreement with the Treaty of Ghent, they finally abandoned the fort in May, 1815, and British control of Wisconsin’s Indians was finally at an end. The fate of Wisconsin’s Indians was now in the hands of the United States Government.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE PERIOD OF AMERICAN SETTLEMENT
