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Ho-Chunk and Blue Earth, 1855–1863

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Black-and-white photo print of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian Agency, c.1860.

Black-and-white photo print of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian Agency, c.1860.

In 1855, a federal treaty moved the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) people from their reservation near Long Prairie to a site along the Blue Earth River. The Ho-Chunk farmed the area's rich soil with some success but drew the hostility of settler-colonist neighbors who wanted the land for themselves. Though they did not participate in the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, they were exiled from Minnesota during the conflict's aftermath.

On February 27, 1855, the Ho-Chunk ceded 897,900 acres of their land near Long Prairie in exchange for two hundred thousand acres along the Blue Earth River. The new area was better suited to their needs as farmers than the dense forests of the Long Prairie region.

On May 24, 1855, the Ho-Chunk began their move south to Blue Earth. A large group of local white citizens gathered in Mankato on June 2 to protest their arrival. The Ho-Chunk were now in possession of arguably the finest crop land in the territory—a prize for settler-colonists and speculators. White immigrants already living on the land (recently ceded by the Dakota) had been forced to leave to accommodate the incoming Ho-Chunk.

The Ho-Chunk settled into the area in the middle of June and attempted a peaceful co-existence with their new neighbors. Many adapted to Euro-American customs, cutting their hair, building houses and schools, and wearing Euro-American clothes. In 1859 Indian Agent Charles H. Mix reported to his superiors that the Ho-Chunk had acclimated to their new life and had a bright future in front of them. According to Mix, farming activity, educational progress, and the general health of the Ho-Chunk were at their highest point since their arrival at Blue Earth.

In 1859 the Ho-Chunk looked for a new source of income. Their old annuities had expired, and they needed money to pay off their debts, improve their farms, and buy equipment and stock. Continued immigration to Minnesota had raised the value of the Blue Earth land. With this in mind, the Ho-Chunk signed a new treaty with the government relinquishing the western part of their reservation.

The people of Mankato and surrounding communities were jubilant over the treaty and welcomed the opportunity to move onto the ceded land. However, they felt that the government had not gone far enough. They called for the complete removal of the Ho-Chunk from Minnesota. Articles in local newspapers pushed for drastic action.

The 1859 treaty superseded all previous agreements between the Ho-Chunk and the government. By 1861, however, it had not yet been ratified. Settler-colonists and developers began to move onto the land. Frustrated by the incursions and lacking the money needed to continue to support their farms, many Ho-Chunk suffered.

On August 18, 1862, a group of Dakota attacked the Lower Sioux Agency, beginning the U.S.-Dakota War. The Ho-Chunk did not participate and remained at Blue Earth. After the war, thirteen Ho-Chunk were tried for allegedly acting in concert with the Dakota. No evidence implicated them, and no one was convicted. The angry and fearful white public, however, did not distinguish between Native Americans groups. They demanded that the government remove the Ho-Chunk as well as the Dakota.

Later that year, a special session of the U.S. Congress was called to approve the exile of the Ho-Chunk from Minnesota. A federal act authorizing removal was passed on February 21, 1863.

On April 25, 1863, the Ho-Chunk were notified that they would be moved to a barren tract of land along the Missouri River in Crow Creek, South Dakota. A small group applied for citizenship to avoid removal but was denied. Many others resisted the government's orders and refused to leave. In early May, under threat of military force, 1,945 Ho-Chunk were moved to Camp Porter in Mankato and from there to Crow Creek. More than 550 Ho-Chunk died during their removal to South Dakota.

Conditions at Crow Creek proved to be dismal, prompting many Ho-Chunk to relocate to an Omaha reservation in Nebraska. The federal government formally created a reservation for them on the Nebraska site on November 15, 1865. In the twenty-first century many Ho-Chunk (members of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska) still make their homes there. Others, whose ancestors returned to the Ho-Chunk homeland in Wisconsin or never left, are members of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin.

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DeMars, Jeanne. "The Winnebago in Blue Earth County." Blue Earth Historian (Winter 2003): 3–5.

Eastabrook, Joseph Theodore. "The Winnebago Indians 1634–1863." Master's Thesis, University of Minnesota, 1936.

Folwell, William Watts. A History of Minnesota. Vol. 2. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1961.

"How the Winnebagos Settled in Mankato." Mankato Free Press, February 6, 1967.

Hughes, Thomas. History of Blue Earth County and Biographies of Its Leading Citizens. Chicago: Middle West Publishing, n.d.
https://archive.org/details/cu31924028912925.

Jones, Tom, et al. People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879–1942. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2011.

Lass, William E. "The Removal from Minnesota of the Sioux and Winnebago Indians." Minnesota History 38, no 8 (December 1963): 353–364.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/38/v38i08p353-364.pdf

Loew, Patty. Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2001.

Mustful, Colin. Unwarranted Expulsion: The Removal of the Winnebago Indians. Self-Published, 2014.
http://www.scribd.com/read/217304968/Unwarranted-Expulsion-The-Removal-of-the-Winnebago-Indians

Potter, Theodore E. "Captain Potter's Recollections of Minnesota Experiences." Minnesota History Bulletin 1, no. 8 (November 1916): 419–521.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/1/v01i08p418-521.pdf

The Historical Marker Database. Ho-Chunk / Winnebago.
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14053

Related Images

Black-and-white photo print of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian Agency, c.1860.
Black-and-white photo print of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian Agency, c.1860.
Black and white photograph of the Ho-Chunk leader Baptiste Lasallier wearing a mix of American Indian and Euro-American clothing, c.1855.
Black and white photograph of the Ho-Chunk leader Baptiste Lasallier wearing a mix of American Indian and Euro-American clothing, c.1855.
Black and white photo print of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) leader Baptiste Lasallier (center) with Indian Agent Charles H. Mix (right) and an Indian supply merchant from New York (left), 1857.
Black and white photo print of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) leader Baptiste Lasallier (center) with Indian Agent Charles H. Mix (right) and an Indian supply merchant from New York (left), 1857.
Black and white photograph of a Ho-Chunk woman sitting outside a shelter. Taken by Benjamin Franklin Upton in 1858.
Black and white photograph of a Ho-Chunk woman sitting outside a shelter. Taken by Benjamin Franklin Upton in 1858.
Black and white photograph of Andre Balcombe, 1858.
Black and white photograph of Andre Balcombe, 1858.
Black and white photograph of Winneshiek II (second from left) and other Ho-Chunk leaders, c.1865.
Black and white photograph of Winneshiek II (second from left) and other Ho-Chunk leaders, c.1865.
Black and white photograph of Ho-Chunk leader, Winneshiek II, likely at Fort Snelling, 1863
Black and white photograph of Ho-Chunk leader, Winneshiek II, likely at Fort Snelling, 1863
Black and white photograph of Ho-Chunk leader Little Hill, who was one of his people's leading orators, c.1865.
Black and white photograph of Ho-Chunk leader Little Hill, who was one of his people's leading orators, c.1865.

Turning Point

On February 21, 1863, President Lincoln signs an order authorizing the removal of all Ho-Chunk people from the state of Minnesota.

Chronology

February 27, 1855

The Ho-Chunk agree to cede their land near Long Prairie and move to a new reservation along the Blue Earth River in southern Minnesota.

May 24, 1855

The Ho-Chunk begin the trip south toward Blue Earth, passing through Saint Anthony. Several hundred visit the capitol building in St. Paul.

June 2, 1855

Settler-colonists meet in Mankato to protest the granting of Blue Earth land to the Ho-Chunk.

1859

Indian Agent Charles H. Mix reports that the Ho-Chunk are happy and successful in Blue Earth.

April 15, 1859

Ho-Chunk leaders agree by treaty to relinquish the western two-thirds of their land in Blue Earth to finance improvements on the rest.

1861

Though the 1859 treaty is not yet ratified, and the Ho-Chunk have not been paid, settler-colonists begin moving onto the ceded portion of the Blue Earth reservation.

August 18, 1862

The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 begins. The Ho-Chunk do not participate.

Early 1863

The Knights of the Forest forms in Mankato, likely in January. The secret society pledges to remove all Native Americans from Minnesota.

February 21, 1863

President Lincoln signs an order authorizing the expulsion of the Ho-Chunk.

April 22, 1863

The Blue Earth land goes up for sale.

May 1863

The Ho-Chunk are removed from Blue Earth. They are taken to Camp Porter in Mankato and from there to Crow Creek, South Dakota.

June 8, 1863

The first group of Ho-Chunk arrives at Crow Creek.

1864

By March 1, all but two hundred Ho-Chunk have left the reservation in Dakota for the Omaha Reserve in Nebraska.

1865

On November 15, the federal government formally designates the Omaha Reserve for the Ho-Chunk.