game," so it was a fair fight, and they should be treated accordingly. Wish you could have been here and seen it-you may see it anyway because they took pictures of it all. As before, E. J. C. THE QUESTION BOX THE MEANING OF MONDOVI I notice in the December number of the WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY an inquiry regarding the name of the city of Mondovi, Wisconsin. As near as I can learn, this name was given to the pioneer settlement on Beef River (called by the early French traders Rivière de Boeuf) by Elihu B. Gifford, who was born at Scott's Corners, Saratoga County, New York, and who came to what is now the city of Mondovi in the year 1856. Mr. Gifford was well educated, considering the time in which he lived, and was an incessant reader. Like a few of the early settlers, all of whom were eastern Yankee stock, he was a subscriber to the New York Ledger, a weekly paper at that time edited by Robert Bonner. This paper was a voluminous publication, and in addition to current news always contained a few spicy novels, and generally devoted considerable space to history, and it is said that Mr. Gifford, in reading an account of the Napoleonic wars in this paper, was struck by the name Mondovi, a town in northwestern Italy where a battle was fought on April 22, 1796, in which the Sardinian forces were completely defeated by Napoleon. Any American visiting Paris and making a careful inspection of the inside of the Arch of Triumph will find the name Mondovi in fourth place from the top, said list of names being the important battles fought by Napoleon in his Italian campaign. Mr. Gifford went overland in an emigrant wagon to Spokane, Washington, in May, 1878, along with about forty others from the little village of Mondovi. Later he named the village of Mondovi, Washington. D. A. WHELAN, THE LANDING PLACE OF JEAN NICOLET Mondovi I would like to ask if you have an idea where the spot is where Jean Nicolet made his visit to a Wisconsin Winnebago Indian village in 1634. Was it on the shore of Lake Michigan or Lake Winnebago, and how can it be reached? I am a descendant of the Winnebago and would like to pay a visit to the place. ULYSSES S. WHITE, Greenwood So far as historians know, Jean Nicolet was the first white man to visit Wisconsin, and at that time (1634) the Winnebago were in possession of most of eastern Wisconsin. It was not until after Nicolet's visit that the Winnebago, in a fierce war with the tribes south of them, lost a large number of their warriors. Historians are not able to say definitely just where Nicolet first saw a Winnebago village; there seem many good reasons to suppose, however, that it was at Red Banks, on the southeast shore of Green Bay, that the village stood where Nicolet landed. We have only the briefest description of his voyage, given from hearsay by a Canadian historian. He reports that Nicolet came up the Ottawa River, crossed into Georgian Bay, and skirted Lake Huron to the Huron villages then on its southeast border. There he obtained a canoe and five Huron guides, and pushed north and west until he found the "men of the sea," as the other Indians called the Winnebago. These Indians received him as a god, since he carried thunder and lightning (two pistols) in his hands. They made a great feast for him of many roasted beavers, and entertained him with the best they had. He made a peace between the Winnebago and the Huron, and then returned the way he had come. SOME WINNEBAGO CHIEFTAINS We have a local county historical society of this county (Blue Earth) and have been gathering what material we can with reference to its early history. For some eight years during the fifties and early sixties a Winnebago reservation was located in this county, and some of the chiefs of that nation have bequeathed their names to various localities in the county; there is a village by the name of Good Thunder, a township by the name of Decoria, and a small stream called Winneshiek, and we have been trying to find some data with reference to these chiefs. The only one that we can find anything about at all is Chief Decoria; we can find nothing about Winneshiek or Good Thunder. They left this county for their reservation in South Dakota but only stayed there a short time, and I understand that they returned to Wisconsin, to their old hunting grounds there, and that the descendants of their bands are still located in central Wisconsin. Does your library contain any data with reference to these chiefs or any of them? THOMAS HUGHES, Mankato, Minn. If you have access to the Wisconsin Historical Collections, will find much about these Winnebago chiefs. The Decorah family was the best known of all the Winnebago. (This name is you spelled in various ways; we have settled on the above form.) The oldest Decorah, head chief of the tribe, died in 1836. He had several sons, brothers, and cousins. Waukon Decorah, or Snakeskin belonged to the La Crosse band. He was living in 1867; probably his family was the one for whom your township was named. His descendants still live in Nebraska. Angel Decora, an artist from this family, died last year in New York. Winneshick was another prominent chief, with sons of the same name. They belonged to the Mississippi River bands. Young Winneshick died in 1887 near Black River Falls. He was what was known as a "good Indian." He returned from the Nebraska reservation to Wisconsin about 1872. Descendants of his live near Black River Falls. Good Thunder's Winnebago name was Wakuntschapinka. He was in the Black Hawk War, apparently on the side of the whites (Wis. Hist. Colls., XIII, 465). If you will write to Dr. N. P. Jipson, 4310 Indiana Avenue, Chicago, he will tell you where you can obtain more information about these chiefs. He is writing a history of the Winnebago Indians and knows several of the present members of the tribe. BRITISH OFFICERS AT MILWAUKEE In working up the history of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Historical Society has been making research for information as to whether England ever had a civil or military officer located at Milwaukee, and also, whether England ever had a war vessel on Lake Michigan. C. M. SCANLAN, There certainly was considerable activity at the Milwaukee Indian village during the Revolutionary period, although whether an officer was stationed there or not it is difficult to say. Charles Langlade and his nephew Charles Gautier de Verville were both officers in the Indian department and were frequently at Milwaukee when raising Indian auxiliaries and supplies. There were also at Milwaukee a trader named St. Pierre and his nephew Marin (Morong), who aided the British officers at Mackinac during the Revolutionary years. Whether either of them was an officer or not does not appear. The British had several small sailing vessels on Lake Michigan, partly armed as ships of war. One named the Welcome was sent out in 1778 (Wis. Hist. Colls., XI, 120); another, a sloop named the Felicity, was commanded by Samuel Robertson in the autumn of 1779 (its log is in Wis. Hist. Colls., XI, 203-212). You will find a brief notice of Milwaukee in the Revolution, in Wis. Hist. Colls., XVIII, preface, also note p. 375. The index volume, XXI, under the caption "Milwaukee," subhead "in the Revolution," gives references to all the material on the subject we have been able to find. During the War of 1812 conditions were reversed. The Milwaukee Indians, who during the Revolution had inclined to side with the "Big Knives" (Americans) were in 1812 strongly pro-British. Robert Dickson had a subordinate officer at Milwaukee named Chandonnet. Dickson's letters show that he had a great deal of trouble with the Milwaukee Indians (Wis. Hist. Colls., XI, 278, 281-82, 289, 293-96, 298, 302-305, 309). Thomas Forsyth, Indian agent at Peoria, attempted to influence the Milwaukee Indians to side with the Americans (Wis. Hist. Colls., XI, 324, 328, etc.), but with very little success. Dickson and his men controlled their activities. To speak of British officers without qualification as being at Milwaukee would be somewhat misleading. The men employed in the West both in the Revolution and in the War of 1812 were traders, both French-Canadian and British, who were employed by the Indian Department and given pay to use their influence with the Indians. However, Langlade, Gautier, Dickson, Chandonnet, and such men were certainly in the service and had their names on the pay rolls. The Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections publishes more of the documents from the Canadian Archives than we have done. You might find additional material on these supplementary officers in their files. EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF THE DELLS OF THE Can you give me any information as to when the Dells of the Wisconsin first became known to white men, and what are the earliest references to them in print? H. E. COLE, Baraboo |