1837 Petitions from La Pointe to the President
January 29, 2023
Collected & edited by Amorin Mello
Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs:
La Pointe Agency 1831-1839
National Archives Identifier: 164009310
O. I. A. La Pointe J171.
Hon Geo. W. Jones
Ho. of Reps. Jany 9, 1838
Transmits petition dated 31st Augt 1837, from Michel Cadotte & 25 other Chip. Half Breeds, praying that the amt to be paid them, under the late Chip. treaty, be distributed at La Pointe, and submitting the names of D. P. Bushnell, Lyman M. Warren, for the appt of Comsr to make the distribution.
Transmits it, that it may receive such attention as will secure the objects of the petitioners, says as the treaty has not been satisfied it may be necessary to bring the subject of the petition before the Comsr Ind Affrs of the Senate.
Recd 10 Jany 1838
file
[?] File.
House of Representatives Jany 9th 1838
Sir
I hasten to transmit the inclosed petition, with the hope, that the subject alluded to, may receive such attention, as to secure the object of the petitioners. As the Chippewa Treaty has not yet been ratified it may be necessary to bring the subject of the petition before the Committee of Indian Affairs of the Senate.
I am very respectfully
Your obt svt
Geo W. Jones
C. A. Harris Esqr
Comssr of Indian Affairs
War Department
To the President of the United States of America
The humble petition of the undersigned Chippewa Half-Breeds citizens of the United Sates, respectfully Shareth:
Bizhiki (Buffalo), Dagwagaane (Two Lodges Meet), and Jechiikwii’o (Snipe, aka Little Buffalo) signed the 1837 Treaty of St Peters for the La Pointe Band.
That, your petitioners having lately heard that a Treaty had been concluded between the Government of the United Sates and the Chippewa Indians at St Peters, for the cession of certain lands belonging to that tribe:
ARTICLE 3.
“The sum of one hundred thousand dollars shall be paid by the United States, to the half-
breeds of the Chippewa nation, under the direction of the President. It is the wish of the
Indians that their two sub-agents Daniel P. Bushnell, and Miles M. Vineyard, superintend
the distribution of this money among their half-breed relations.”
That, the said Chippewa Indians X, having a just regard to the interest and welfare of their Half Breed brethren, did there and then stipulate; that, a certain sum of money should be paid once for all unto the said Half-Breeds, to satisfy all claim they might have on the lands so ceded to the United States.
That, your petitioners are ignorant of the time and place where such payment is to be made.
That the great majority of the Half-Breeds entitled to a distribution of said sum of money, are either residing at La Pointe on Lake Superior, or being for the most part earning their livelihood from the Traders, are consequently congregated during the summer months at the aforesaid place.
Your petitioners humbly solicit their father the President, to take their case into consideration, and not subject them to a long and costly journey in ordering the payments to be made at any inconvenient distance, but on the contrary they trust that in his wisdom he will see the justice of their demand in requiring he will be pleased to order the same to be distributed at Lapointe agreeable to their request.
Your petitioners would also intimate that, although they are fully aware that the Executive will make a judicious choice in the appointment of the Commissioners who will be selected to carry into effect the Provisions of said Treaty, yet, they would humbly submit to the President, that they have full confidence in the integrity of D. P. Bushnell Esqr. resident Indian Agent for the United States at this place and Lyman M Warren Esquire, Merchant.
Your petitioners entertain the flattering hope, that, their petition will not be made in vain, and as in duty bound will ever pray.
La Pointe, Lake Superior,
Territory of Wisconsin 31st August 1837
Michel Cadotte
Michel Bosquet X his mark
Seraphim Lacombe X his mark
Joseph Cadotte X his mark
Antoine Cadotte X his mark
Chs W Borup for wife & Children
A Morrison for wife & children
Pierre Cotte
Henry Cotte X his mark
Frances Roussan X his mark
James Ermatinger for wife & family
Lyman M Warren for wife & family
Joseph Dufault X his mark
Paul Rivet X his mark for wife & family
Charles Chaboullez wife & family
George D. Cameron
Alixis Corbin
Louis Corbin
Jean Bste Denomme X his mark and family
Ambrose Deragon X his mark and family
Robert Morran X his mark ” “
Jean Bst Couvillon X his mark ” “
Alix Neveu X his mark ” “
Frances Roy X his mark ” “
Alixis Brisbant X his mark ” “
Signed in presence of G. Pauchene
John Livingston
O.I.A. La Pointe W424.
Governor of Wisconsin
Mineral Pt. Feby 19, 1838
Transmits the talk of “Buffalo,” a Chip. Chief, delivered at the La Pointe SubAgt, Dec. 9, 1837, asking that the am. due the half-breeds under the late Treaty, be divided fairly among them, & paid them there, as they will not go to St Peters for it, &c.
Says Buffalo has great influence with his tribe, & is friendly to the whites; his sentiments accord with most of those of the half-breeds & Inds in that part of the country.
File
Recd 13 March 1838
[?] File.
Superintendency of Indian Affairs
for the Territory of Wisconsin
Mineral Point, Feby 19, 1838
Sir,
I have the honor to inclose the talk of “Buffalo,” a principal chief of the Chippewa Indians in the vicinity of La Pointe, delivered on the 9th Dec’r last before Mr Bushnell, sub-agent of the Chippewas at that place. Mr. Bushnell remarks that the speech is given with as strict an adherence to the letter as the language will admit, and has no doubt the sentiments expressed by this Chief accord with those of most of the half-breeds and Indians in that place of the Country. The “Buffalo” is a man of great influence among his tribe, and very friendly to the whites.
Very respectfully,
Your obed’t sevt.
Henry Dodge
Supt Ind Affs
Hon C. A. Harris
Com. of Ind. Affairs
Subagency
Lapointe Dec 10 1837
Speech of the Buffalo principal Chief at Lapointe
Father I told you yesterday I would have something to say to you today. What I say to you now I want you to write down, and send it to the Great American Chief that we saw at St Peters last summer, (Gov. Dodge). Yesterday, I called all the Indians together, and have brought them here to hear what I say; I speak the words of all.
ARTICLE 1.
“The said Chippewa nation cede to the United States all that tract of country included
within the following boundaries:
[…]
thence to and along the dividing ridge between the waters of Lake Superior and those of the Mississippi
[…]“
Father it was not my voice, that sold the country last summer. The land was not mine; it belonged to the Indians beyond the mountains. When our Great Father told us at St Peters that it was only the country beyond the mountains that he wanted I was glad. I have nothing to say about the Treaty, good, or bad, because the country was not mine; but when it comes my time I shall know how to act. If the Americans want my land, I shall know what to say. I did not like to stand in the road of the Indians at St Peters. I listened to our Great Father’s words, & said them in my heart. I have not forgotten them. The Indians acted like children; they tried to cheat each other and got cheated themselves. When it comes my time to sell my land, I do not think I shall give it up as they did.
What I say about the payment I do not say on my own account; for myself I do not care; I have always been poor, & don’t want silver now. But I speak for the poor half breeds.
There are a great many of them; more than would fill your house; some of them are very poor They cannot go to St Peters for their money. Our Great Father told us at St Peters, that you would divide the money, among the half breeds. You must not mind those that are far off, but divide it fairly, and give the poor women and children a good share.
Father the Indians all say they will not go to St Peters for their money. Let them divide it in this parts if they choose, but one must have ones here. You must not think you see all your children here; there are so many of them, that when the money and goods are divided, there will not be more than half a Dollar and a breech cloth for each one. At Red Cedar Lake the English Trader (W. Aitken) told the Indians they would not have more than a breech cloth; this set them to thinking. They immediately held a council & their Indian that had the paper (The Treaty) said he would not keep it, and would send it back.
It will not be my place to come in among the first when the money is paid. If the Indians that own the land call me in I shall come in with pleasure.
ARTICLE 4.
“The sum of seventy thousand dollars shall be applied to the payment, by the United States, of certain claims against the Indians; of which amount twenty eight thousand dollars shall, at their request, be paid to William A. Aitkin, twenty five thousand to Lyman M. Warren, and the balance applied to the liquidation of other just demands against them—which they acknowledge to be the case with regard to that presented by Hercules L. Dousman, for the sum of five thousand dollars; and they request that it be paid.“
We are afraid of one Trader. When at St Peters I saw that they worked out only for themselves. They have deceived us often. Our Great Father told us he would pay our old debts. I thought they should be struck off, but we have to pay them. When I heard our debts would be paid, it done my heart good. I was glad; but when I got back here my joy was gone. When our money comes here, I hope our Traders will keep away, and let us arrange our own business, with the officers that the President sends here.
Father I speak for my people, not for myself. I am an old man. My fire is almost out – there is but little smoke. When I set in my wigwam & smoke my pipe, I think of what has past and what is to come, and it makes my heart shake. When business comes before us we will try and act like chiefs. If any thing is to be done, it had better be done straight. The Indians are not like white people; they act very often like children. We have always been good friends to the whites, and we want to remain so. We do not [even?] go to war with our enemies, the Sioux; I tell my young men to keep quiet.
Father I heard the words of our Great Father (Gov. Dodge) last summer, and was pleased; I have not forgotten what he said. I have his words up in my heart. I want you to tell him to keep good courage for us, we want him to do all he can for us. What I have said you have written down; I [?] you to hand him a copy; we don’t know your ways. If I [?] said any thing [?] dont send it. If you think of any thing I ought to say send it. I have always listened to the white men.
O.I.A. Lapointe, B.458
D. P. Bushnell
Lapointe, March 8, 1838
At the request of some of the petitioners, encloses a petition dated 7 March 1838, addressed to the Prest, signed by 167 Chip. half breeds, praying that the amt stipulated by the late Chip. Treaty to be paid to the half breeds, to satisfy all claims they ma have on the lands ceded by this Treaty, may be distributed at Lapointe.
Hopes their request will be complied with; & thinks their annuity should likewise be paid at Lapointe.
File
Recd 2nd May, 1838
Subagency
Lapointe Mch 6 1838
Sir
I have the honor herewith to enclose a petition addressed to the President of the United States, handed to me with a request by several of the petitioners that I would forward it. The justice of the demand of these poor people is so obvious to any one acquainted with their circumstances, that I cannot omit this occasion to second it, and to express a sincere hope that it will be complied with. Indeed, if the convenience and wishes of the Indians are consulted, and as the sum they receive for their country is so small, these should, I conciev, be principle considerations, their annuity will likewise as paid here; for it is a point more convenient of access for the different bands, that almost any other in their own country, and one moreover, where they have interests been in the habit of assembling in the summer months.
I am sir, with great respect,
your most obt servant,
D. P. Bushnell
O. I. A.
C. A. Harris Esqr.
Comr Ind. Affs
To the President of the United States of America
The humble petition of the undersigned Chippewa Half-Breeds citizens of the United States respectfully shareth
That your petitioners having lately heard, that a Treaty has been concluded between the Government of the United States and the Chippewa Indians at St Peters for the cession of certain lands belonging to that tribe;
That the said Chippewa Indians having a just regard to the interest and wellfare of their Half-Breed brethern, did there and then stipulate, that a certain sum of money should be paid once for all unto the said Half-Breeds, to satisfy all claims, they might have on the lands so ceded to the United States;
That your petitioners are ignorant of the time and place, where such payment is to be made; and
That the great majority of the Half-Breeds entitled to a portion of said sum of money are either residing at Lapointe on Lake Superior, or being for the most part earning their livelihood from the Traders, are consequently congregated during the summer months at the aforesaid place;
Your petitioners therefore humbly solicit their Father the President to take their case into consideration, and not subject them to a long and costly journey on ordering the payment to be made at any convenient distance, but on the contrary, they wish, that in his wisdom he will see the justice of this petition and that he will be pleased to order the same to be distributed at Lapointe agreeably to their request.
Your petitioners entertain the flattering hope, that their petition will not be made in vain and as in duly bound will ever pray.
Half Breeds of Folleavoine Lapointe Lac Court Oreilles and Lac du Flambeau
Georg Warren
Edward Warren
William Warren
Truman A Warren
Mary Warren
Michel Cadott
Joseph Cadotte
Joseph Dufault
Frances Piquette X his mark
Michel Bousquet X his mark
Baptiste Bousquet X his mark
Jos Piquette X his mark
Antoine Cadotte X his mark
Joseph Cadotte X his mark
Seraphim Lacombre X his mark
Angelique Larose X her mark
Benjamin Cadotte X his mark
J Bte Cadotte X his mark
Joseph Danis X his mark
Henry Brisette X his mark
Charles Brisette X his mark
Jehudah Ermatinger
William Ermatinger
Charlotte Ermatinger
Larence Ermatinger
Theodore Borup
Sophia Borup
Elisabeth Borup
Jean Bte Duchene X his mark
Agathe Cadotte X her mark
Mary Cadotte X her mark
Charles Cadotte X his mark
Louis Nolin _ his mark
Frances Baillerge X his mark
Joseph Marchand X his mark
Louis Dubay X his mark
Alexis Corbin X his mark
Augustus Goslin X his mark
George Cameron X his mark
Sophia Dufault X her mark
Augt Cadotte No 2 X his mark
Jos Mace _ his mark
Frances Lamoureau X his mark
Charles Morrison
Charlotte L. Morrison
Mary A Morrison
Margerike Morrison
Jane Morrison
Julie Dufault X her mark
Michel Dufault X his mark
Jean Bte Denomme X his mark
Michel Deragon X his mark
Mary Neveu X her mark
Alexis Neveu X his mark
Michel Neveu X his mark
Josette St Jean X her mark
Baptist St Jean X his mark
Mary Lepessier X her mark
Edward Lepessier X his mark
William Dingley X his mark
Sarah Dingley X her mark
John Hotley X his mark
Jeannette Hotley X her mark
Seraphim Lacombre Jun X his mark
Angelique Lacombre X her mark
Felicia Brisette X her mark
Frances Houle X his mark
Jean Bte Brunelle X his mark
Jos Gauthier X his mark
Edward Connor X his mark
Henry Blanchford X his mark
Louis Corbin X his mark
Augustin Cadotte X his mark
Frances Gauthier X his mark
Jean Bte Gauthier X his mark
Alexis Carpentier X his mark
Jean Bte Houle X his mark
Frances Lamieux X his mark
Baptiste Lemieux X his mark
Pierre Lamieux X his mark
Michel Morringer X his mark
Frances Dejaddon X his mark
John Morrison X his mark
Eustache Roussain X his mark
Benjn Morin X his mark
Adolphe Nolin X his mark
Half-Breeds of Fond du Lac
John Aitken
Roger Aitken
Matilda Aitken
Harriet Aitken
Nancy Scott
Robert Fairbanks
George Fairbanks
Jean B Landrie
Joseph Larose
Paul Bellanges X his mark
Jack Belcour X his mark
Jean Belcour X his mark
Paul Beauvier X his mark
Frances Belleaire
Michel Comptois X his mark
Joseph Charette X his mark
Chl Charette X his mark
Jos Roussain X his mark
Pierre Roy X his mark
Joseph Roy X his mark
Vincent Roy X his mark
Jack Bonga X his mark
Jos Morrison X his mark
Henry Cotte X his mark
Charles Chaboillez
Roderic Chaboillez
Louison Rivet X his mark
Louis Dufault X his mark
Louison Dufault X his mark
Baptiste Dufault X his mark
Joseph Dufault X his mark
Chs Chaloux X his mark
Jos Chaloux X his mark
Augt Bellanger X his mark
Bapt Bellanger X his mark
Joseph Bellanger X his mark
Ignace Robidoux X his mark
Charles Robidoux X his mark
Mary Robidoux X her mark
Simon Janvier X his mark
Frances Janvier X his mark
Baptiste Janvier X his mark
Frances Roussain X his mark
Therese Rouleau X his mark
Joseph Lavierire X his mark
Susan Lapointe X her mark
Mary Lapointe X her mark
Louis Gordon X his mark
Antoine Gordon X his mark
Jean Bte Goslin X his mark
Nancy Goslin X her mark
Michel Petit X his mark
Jack Petit X his mark
Mary Petit X her mark
Josette Cournoyer X her mark
Angelique Cournoyer X her mark
Susan Cournoyer X her mark
Jean Bte Roy X his mark
Frances Roy X his mark
Baptist Roy X his mark
Therese Roy X her mark
Mary Lavierge X her mark
Toussaint Piquette X his mark
Josette Piquette X her mark
Susan Montreille X her mark
Josiah Bissel X his mark
John Cotte X his mark
Isabelle Cotte X her mark
Angelique Brebant X her mark
Mary Brebant X her mark
Margareth Bell X her mark
Julie Brebant X her mark
Josette Lefebre X her mark
Sophia Roussain X her mark
Joseph Roussain X his mark
Angelique Roussain X her mark
Joseph Bellair X his mark
Catharine McDonald X her mark
Nancy McDonald X her mark
Mary Macdonald X her mark
Louise Landrie X his mark
In presence of
Chs W Borup
A Morrison
A. D. Newton
Lapointe 7th March 1838
Perrault, Curot, Nelson, and Malhoit
March 8, 2014
Click to enlarge (it can only be read when the image is full size).
I’ve been getting lazy, lately, writing all my posts about the 1850s and later. It’s easy to find sources about that because they are everywhere, and many are being digitized in an archival format. It takes more work to write a relevant post about the earlier eras of Chequamegon History. The sources are sparse, scattered, and the ones that are digitized or published have largely been picked over and examined by other researchers. However, that’s no excuse. Those earlier periods are certainly as interesting as the mid-19th Century. I needed to just jump in and do a project of some sort.
I’m someone who needs to know the names and personalities involved to truly wrap my head around a history. I’ve never been comfortable making inferences and generalizations unless I have a good grasp of the specific. This doesn’t become easy in the Lake Superior country until after the Cass Expedition in 1820.
But what about a generation earlier?
The dawn of the 19th-century was a dynamic time for our region. The fur trade was booming under the British North West Company. The Ojibwe were expanding in all directions, especially to west, and many of familiar French surnames that are so common in the area arrived with Canadian and Ojibwe mix-blooded voyageurs. Admittedly, the pages of the written record around 1800 are filled with violence and alcohol, but that shouldn’t make one lose track of the big picture. Right or wrong, sustainable or not, this was a time of prosperity for many. I say this from having read numerous later nostalgic accounts from old chiefs and voyageurs about this golden age.
We can meet some of the bigger characters of this era in the pages of William W. Warren and Henry Schoolcraft. In them, men like Mamaangazide (Mamongazida “Big Feet”) and Michel Cadotte of La Pointe, Beyazhig (Pay-a-jick “Lone Man) of St. Croix, and Giishkiman (Keeshkemun “Sharpened Stone”) of Lac du Flambeau become titans, covered with glory in trade, war, and influence. However, there are issues with these accounts. These two authors, and their informants, are prone toward glorifying their own family members. Considering that Schoolcraft’s (his mother-in law, Ozhaawashkodewike) and Warren’s (Flat Mouth, Buffalo, Madeline and Michel Cadotte Jr., Jean Baptiste Corbin, etc.) informants were alive and well into adulthood by 1800, we need to keep things in perspective.
The nature of Ojibwe leadership wasn’t different enough in that earlier era to allow for a leader with any more coercive power than that of the chiefs in 1850s. Mamaangazide and his son Waabojiig may have racked up great stories and prestige in hunting and war, but their stature didn’t get them rich, didn’t get them out of performing the same seasonal labors as the other men in the band, and didn’t guarantee any sort of power for their descendants. In the pages of contemporary sources, the titans of Warren and Schoolcraft are men.
Finally, it should be stated that 1800 is comparatively recent. Reading the journals and narratives of the Old North West Company can make one feel completely separate from the American colonization of the Chequamegon Region in the 1840s and ’50s. However, they were written at a time when the Americans had already claimed this area for over a decade. In fact, the long knife Zebulon Pike reached Leech Lake only a year after Francois Malhoit traded at Lac du Flambeau.
The Project
I decided that if I wanted to get serious about learning about this era, I had to know who the individuals were. The most accessible place to start would be four published fur-trade journals and narratives: those of Jean Baptiste Perrault (1790s), George Nelson (1802-1804), Michel Curot (1803-1804), and Francois Malhoit (1804-1805).
The reason these journals overlap in time is that these years were the fiercest for competition between the North West Company and the upstart XY Company of Sir Alexander MacKenzie. Both the NWC traders (such as Perrault and Malhoit) and the XY traders (Nelson and Curot) were expected to keep meticulous records during these years.
I’d looked at some of these journals before and found them to be fairly dry and lacking in big-picture narrative history. They mostly just chronicle the daily transactions of the fur posts. However, they do frequently mention individual Ojibwe people by name, something that can be lacking in other primary records. My hope was that these names could be connected to bands and villages and then be cross-referenced with Warren and Schoolcraft to fill in some of the bigger story. As the project took shape, it took the form of a map with lots of names on it. I recorded every Ojibwe person by name and located them in the locations where they met the traders, unless they are mentioned specifically as being from a particular village other than where they were trading.
I started with Perrault’s Narrative and tried to record all the names the traders and voyageurs mentioned as well. As they were mobile and much less identified with particular villages, I decided this wasn’t worth it. However, because this is Chequamegon History, I thought I should at least record those “Frenchmen” (in quotes because they were British subjects, some were English speakers, and some were mix-bloods who spoke Ojibwe as a first language) who left their names in our part of the world. So, you’ll see Cadotte, Charette, Corbin, Roy, Dufault (DeFoe), Gauthier (Gokee), Belanger, Godin (Gordon), Connor, Bazinet (Basina), Soulierre, and other familiar names where they were encountered in the journals. I haven’t tried to establish a complete genealogy for either, but I believe Perrault (Pero) and Malhoit (Mayotte) also have names that are still with us.
For each of the names on the map, I recorded the narrative or journal they appeared in:
JBP= Jean Baptiste Perrault
GN= George Nelson
MC= Michel Curot
FM= Francois Malhoit
Red Lake-Pembina area: By this time, the Ojibwe had started to spread far beyond the Lake Superior forests and into the western prairies. Perrault speaks of the Pillagers (Leech Lake Band) being absent from their villages because they had gone to hunt buffalo in the west. Vincent Roy Sr. and his sons later settled at La Pointe, but their family maintained connections in the Canadian borderlands. Jean Baptiste Cadotte Jr. was the brother of Michel Cadotte (Gichi-Mishen), the famous La Pointe trader.
Leech Lake and Sandy Lake area: The names that jump out at me here are La Brechet or Gaa-dawaabide (Broken Tooth), the great Loon-clan chief from Sandy Lake (son of Bayaaswaa mentioned in this post) and Loon’s Foot (Maangozid). The Maangozid we know as the old speaker and medicine man from Fond du Lac (read this post) was the son of Gaa-dawaabide. He would have been a teenager or young man at the time Perrault passed through Sandy Lake.
Fond du Lac and St. Croix: Augustin Belanger and Francois Godin had descendants that settled at La Pointe and Red Cliff. Jean Baptiste Roy was the father of Vincent Roy Sr. I don’t know anything about Big Marten and Little Marten of Fond du Lac or Little Wolf of the St. Croix portage, but William Warren writes extensively about the importance of the Marten Clan and Wolf Clan in those respective bands. Bayezhig (Pay-a-jick) is a celebrated warrior in Warren and Giishkiman (Kishkemun) is credited by Warren with founding the Lac du Flambeau village. Buffalo of the St. Croix lived into the 1840s. I wrote about his trip to Washington in this post.
Lac Courte Oreilles and Chippewa River: Many of the men mentioned at LCO by Perrault are found in Warren. Little (Petit) Michel Cadotte was a cousin of the La Pointe trader, Big (Gichi/La Grande) Michel Cadotte. The “Red Devil” appears in Schoolcraft’s account of 1831. The old, respected Lac du Flambeau chief Giishkiman appears in several villages in these journals. As the father of Keenestinoquay and father-in-law of Simon Charette, a fur-trade power couple, he traded with Curot and Nelson who worked with Charette in the XY Company.
La Pointe: Unfortunately, none of the traders spent much time at La Pointe, but they all mention Michel Cadotte as being there. The family of Gros Pied (Mamaangizide, “Big Feet”) the father of Waabojiig, opened up his lodge to Perrault when the trader was waylaid by weather. According to Schoolcraft and Warren, the old war chief had fought for the French on the Plains of Abraham in 1759.
Lac du Flambeau: Malhoit records many of the same names in Lac du Flambeau that Nelson met on the Chippewa River. Simon Charette claimed much of the trade in this area. Mozobodo and “Magpie” (White Crow), were his brothers-in-law. Since I’ve written so much about chiefs named Buffalo, I should point out that there’s an outside chance Le Taureau (presumably another Bizhiki) could be the famous Chief Buffalo of La Pointe.
L’Anse, Ontonagon, and Lac Vieux Desert: More Cadottes and Roys, but otherwise I don’t know much about these men.
At Mackinac and the Soo, Perrault encountered a number of names that either came from “The West,” or would find their way there in later years. “Cadotte” is probably Jean Baptiste Sr., the father of “Great” Michel Cadotte of La Pointe.
Malhoit meets Jean Baptiste Corbin at Kaministiquia. Corbin worked for Michel Cadotte and traded at Lac Courte Oreilles for decades. He was likely picking up supplies for a return to Wisconsin. Kaministiquia was the new headquarters of the North West Company which could no longer base itself south of the American line at Grand Portage.
Initial Conclusions
There are many stories that can be told from the people listed in these maps. They will have to wait for future posts, because this one only has space to introduce the project. However, there are two important concepts that need to be mentioned. Neither are new, but both are critical to understanding these maps:
1) There is a great potential for misidentifying people.
Any reading of the fur-trade accounts and attempts to connect names across sources needs to consider the following:
- English names are coming to us from Ojibwe through French. Names are mistranslated or shortened.
- Ojibwe names are rendered in French orthography, and are not always transliterated correctly.
- Many Ojibwe people had more than one name, had nicknames, or were referenced by their father’s names or clan names rather than their individual names.
- Traders often nicknamed Ojibwe people with French phrases that did not relate to their Ojibwe names.
- Both Ojibwe and French names were repeated through the generations. One should not assume a name is always unique to a particular individual.
So, if you see a name you recognize, be careful to verify it’s reall the person you’re thinking of. Likewise, if you don’t see a name you’d expect to, don’t assume it isn’t there.
2) When talking about Ojibwe bands, kinship is more important than physical location.
In the later 1800s, we are used to talking about distinct entities called the “St. Croix Band” or “Lac du Flambeau Band.” This is a function of the treaties and reservations. In 1800, those categories are largely meaningless. A band is group made up of a few interconnected families identified in the sources by the names of their chiefs: La Grand Razeur’s village, Kishkimun’s Band, etc. People and bands move across large areas and have kinship ties that may bind them more closely to a band hundreds of miles away than to the one in the next lake over.
I mapped here by physical geography related to trading posts, so the names tend to group up. However, don’t assume two people are necessarily connected because they’re in the same spot on the map.
On a related note, proximity between villages should always be measured in river miles rather than actual miles.
Going Forward
I have some projects that could spin out of these maps, but for now, I’m going to set them aside. Please let me know if you see anything here that you think is worth further investigation.
Sources:
Curot, Michel. A Wisconsin Fur Trader’s Journal, 1803-1804. Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. Wisconsin Historical Collections, vol. XX: 396-472, 1911.
Malhoit, Francois V. “A Wisconsin Fur Trader’s Journal, 1804-05.” Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites. Vol. 19. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1910. 163-225. Print.
Nelson, George, Laura L. Peers, and Theresa M. Schenck. My First Years in the Fur Trade: The Journals of 1802-1804. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 2002. Print.
Perrault, Jean Baptiste. Narrative of The Travels And Adventures Of A Merchant Voyager In The Savage Territories Of Northern America Leaving Montreal The 28th of May 1783 (to 1820) ed. and Introduction by, John Sharpless Fox. Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections. vol. 37. Lansing: Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford Co., 1900.
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe. Information Respecting The History,Condition And Prospects OF The Indian Tribes Of The United States. Illustrated by Capt. S. Eastman. Published by the Authority of Congress. Part III. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Company, 1953.
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, and Philip P. Mason. Expedition to Lake Itasca; the Discovery of the Source of the Mississippi. East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 1958. Print.
Warren, William W., and Theresa M. Schenck. History of the Ojibway People. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 2009. Print.
Chequamegon History 