The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Volume 1, 1917-1918Various
History
The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Volume 1, 1917-1918
Various
Wisconsin -- History -- Periodicals
I wish to thank you very much for the information you gave
me in your letter of October 30, 1916. I would have answered
sooner than this but as you requested me to give you a list
of my grandfather’s descendants I wanted first to find some
one who knew how many children and grandchildren my
grandfather, Osh-ka-he-nah-niew, had. I have not been able
to get this information from the old members of the tribe,
but as soon as I get it I will write you again and let you
know.
The name Osh-ka-he-nah-niew in the Menominee Indian language
means “young man.”
I received a letter from Mr. J. L. Baity, auditor of the
Treasury Department, Washington, D. C., dated November 25,
1916, in which he says:
“With return of the letter from the Superintendent of the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, dated October 30,
1916, addressed to Mr. Mitchell Oshkenaniew, you are advised
that the information set forth in said letter is too meager
for the War Department to establish the service of
‘Oshkenaniew’ Menominee Indian Warrior Black Hawk War 1832,
and until sufficient information can be furnished setting
forth the organization in which service was rendered
together with the period of service and the names of some
commanding officer, no further action will be taken on the
claim.”
MITCHELL OSHKENANIEW,
_Neopit, Wisconsin_.
Col. George Boyd was Indian agent at Green Bay in the summer of 1832;
he replaced Col. Samuel C. Stambaugh early in June. Stambaugh,
although superseded, did not immediately leave Green Bay and was very
popular with the Menominee tribe. During the course of the war, when
all trace of the whereabouts of the Sauk band had been lost, Gen.
Henry Atkinson, encamped on Whitewater River in Wisconsin, sent Col.
William S. Hamilton (son of Alexander Hamilton) to Colonel Boyd at
Green Bay. Atkinson feared that Black Hawk and the Sauk hostiles would
attempt to escape to the British at Malden, and he therefore ordered
Boyd to enlist and equip as large a body of Menominee Indians as
possible to try to intercept them. Boyd at once called the Menominee
together. They were willing to go to war against the Sauk if they
might have officers of their own choosing. Col. S. C. Stambaugh was
thereupon made commander-in-chief. The second place was offered to
Col. W. S. Hamilton, but he declined the honor. The Menominee turned
out about three hundred warriors, who were organized into two
companies commanded by the following officers: 1st Company; Augustin
Grignon, captain, Charles A. Grignon Jr., first lieutenant; 2d
Company; George Johnston, captain, James M. Boyd, first lieutenant,
William Powell, second lieutenant and interpreter. Alexander J. Irwin
was charged with the commissariat with rank of first lieutenant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive