sawmills to sunfish Blackdeer Traditional Geocache
Wis Kid: No response from owner.
sawmills to sunfish Blackdeer
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
this cache is located on the Great river state bike trail a trail pass is required it on a bike,thank to James V Thonpson at the perot state park(dnr trailheadquarters) office for granting me permissins to place this cache all forms have been filed and signed to place this cache
The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource managed lands require permission by means of a notification form
NATIVE AMERICANS
The story of the Indians in Onalaska history be-
gan a very long time ago! In the 1980's a human
skeleton, possibly 2,000 years old, was unearthed
near the Mayfair addition on Onalaska's east side
along Highway #16. Findings from the archeologi-
cal dig, done by the Mississippi Valley Archaeology
Center and the La Crosse Area Archaeology Society,
showed that these Indians had a sophisticated trad-
ing system among these Archaic or Old Copper
Culture groups. Archaeologists think that Indians
lived in this area as early 8,000 B.C. Around Ona-
laska, artifacts have been found from all the var-
ious classifications-the Woodland, Hopewell, Up-
per and Middle Mississippi, Oneoto, and the
Historic groups. These artifacts show how Indians
advanced from a prehistoric people to a culture
that built cities, built mounds to bury their dead,
engaged in agriculture, medicine, art, pottery mak-
ing, weaving and toolmaking. They had a numeri-
cal system and a calendar.
During the Historic classification, beginning in
1634, various small groups moved into this region
by coming up the Mississippi River Valley from the
south. These people were hunters and gatherers
and traveled in small family groups looking for
food or other groups with whom to trade. This in-
dividual mobility, and the traits of resourcefulness
and adaptability, as well as a strong sense of re-
sponsibility for the family group, made survival
possible, though the living was probably difficult.
The Winnebago, descendents of the Upper Mis-
sissippi people, were the first farmers, hunters, and
fishermen in Wisconsin. Their descendents are still
living in the Onalaska area, primarily on Brice
Prairie. Wisconsin Indians fall into three linguistic
groups-the Algonkian, the Iroguaian, and the
Siouan. The Winnebago belong to the Siouan
group. Many Winnebago are still bilingual and are
not reservation Indians.
In 1837 the Winnebagoes ceded all land east of
the Mississippi River to the U.S. Government. In
the story of Nathan Myrick from HISTORY OF LA
CROSSE-1841-1900, Mr. Myrick tells how, in 1841,
Mr. H.J.B. "Scoots" Miller hauled provisions from
Mr. H.L. Dousman of Prairie Du Chien up to the
Black River where Onalaska is now located, to be
distributed among the Indians living there.
As the white people moved east, building farms
and lumbering towns, the Winnebago refused to
leave, as the Government had planned, and so were
forcibly gathered by soldiers on four occasions to
be moved west of the Mississippi River to Long
Prairie, Minnesota in 1848, and later to Nebraska.
The last removal was in 1874. A few groups, like
the Blackdeers, the most prominent Onalaskan Indi-
of 1875 which gave each Indian family a 40-acre
homestead. In 1881 the Government made a special
roll (or record) of these dissident Winnebagoes and
made them a separate tribe from those that stayed
in Nebraska.
The deed on the property that the Blackdeer fam-
ily now owns is dated 1881. The previous owner
had been another well-known Indian around Ona-
laska. His name was Young Swan, or "Yank" Swan,
as he was sometimes called. Swan road, which runs
north off North Shore Drive today, was named
after this man.
Alvin Blackdeer recalls stories told to him by his
parents and grandparents, as well as from his own
recollections. He tells how the Indians traveled in
small groups, usually by families, for protection, (as
murders did occasionally occur) from Brice Prairie
to Black River Falls and return. In the spring and
early summer they went to Warrens, Neilsville and
Tomah regions to gather wild strawberries and
blueberries; and later in the fall, cranberries. They
would fish the Black River and hunt along the
way. Before winter they came to the Onalaska area
for fishing and trapping. This travel was slow and
difficult as all the family members went along-el-
derly folks who were sometimes ill, and all the lit-
tle children. All their supplies for shelter and food,
even water, had to be carried with them.
Many of the trails made and followed by the In-
dians, as they went back and forth, are the same
routes our roads follow today, except we cut
through the hills and bridged the rivers.
Alvin Blackdeer recalls how women who re-
turned to the campsite, known as Twin Oak
Springs, on Brice Prairie would go to a certain area,
near a bush or cedar tree, to fondly reminisce on
the birth of one of their babies born at that site
many years before. A bush that grew for many
years on the edge of Blackdeer's yard was one that
an Indian woman had brought back with her from
the Nebraska Reservation. She came back years lat-
er to see it.
There is a cemetery near the old campsite. Today
only small mounds can be seen. Spirit houses had
been built over the graves, and these, according to
Winnebago belief, were to be left to crumble and
decay with nature. Over the years campers have
torn them down and used the wood for firewood.
An Indian ceremony that was held at this cemetery
over the years, and is still performed by the
Blackdeer family today, is the Ghost Feed. Accord-
ing to tradition, when a group of family and
friends would get together to share food, small por-
tions of food were taken to the cemetery and left
by the graves of the ancestors. This ritual was nev-
er performed individually, but always at a special
time of celebration to signify family and friendship
bonds and the spirit of sharing.
The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to James V Thomsom of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource managed lands require permission by means of a notification form. Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at: (visit link)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
qrnq jbbq