>> In a log cabin, in what would become downtown Oshkosh, local residents met to decide on a name for the future city. The meeting marked the end of an era, and the end of a way of life, on the ancient water route of the Fox River. >> It was on Lake Winnebago, in what would be Oshkosh. The Menominees would have a fishing camp set up there during the winter, specifically to get sturgeon out of Lake Winnebago through the ice. Sturgeon is sacred to the Menominee people. It is in our creation story. It was also used as a wild rice camp, and that's what our name is. Menominee, or Mawanew Weyak, "People of the wild rice." >> Well, Oshkosh, itself, of course, sits at what was a magnificent wetland. The people who lived there, lived in a pretty pleasant place. It was filled with water fowl, abundantly clear water, fur-bearing animals, which, of course, brought the Europeans there in the late 1600s. The Fox River, although it's a slow, meandering, narrow river, does connect across the portage, at Portage, the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. It was, throughout the late 1600s into the 1700s, the "Highway of Empire." The French Army in the Fox Wars came by there, the explorers, the missionaries came by there, and back and forth, this fur trade. First, of course, under the command of the French. Then, to the British, after they took over the area.
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>> As the As the Americans took control from the British, they began negotiating a series of treaties with the Menominee and Ho Chunk. And Yankee settlers began setting up farms. >> White settlers began coming in from New England. Yankees. There was quite a bit of a cultural clash. The French had blended in with the Menominee and Ho Chunk, and had even inter-married. >> The middle men in the fur trade were of French descent, French-Menominee descent, particularly at Oshkosh, the Grignon family. Augustin was the pater familias of the group, and Grignons called themselves "Wisconsin's first family." There were two sons there, Robert and Charles. >> In 1840, Winnebago County was set apart from Brown County. There were no villages or cities to speak of, except for a trading post that was at what's now the village of Butte Des Morts. But since it was a County, they needed a post office. So, one of the local farmhouses was going to be that post office. But, they needed a name for it. >> A meeting was called at the Wright House there in what is now downtown Oshkosh. >> About two dozen voting men of the County got together at that farmhouse. They put forth several names. >> The American contingent at Oshkosh decided to call the place "Athens." >> Several wanted to call it Stanford. Someone suggested Osceola. >> But the French and Menominee contingent, there was a group from Butte Des Morts, led by Robert Grignon. They were convinced this place should be named after Menominee Chief Oshkosh. >> He was the grandson of the "Old King," who was the head Chief of the Menominee tribe. He was mostly raised by famous Chief Tomah, and actually served with him during the War of 1812, with the British, against the Americans. He had seen firsthand the might and power of the United States Government. >> Oshkosh became Chief during negotiations for the 1827 Treaty at Butte Des Morts, one of several treaties that would force the Tribe to give up more than 10 million acres of their ancestral lands. During these times of the treaties, he would meet with the other Chiefs of the tribe, but he was the main spokesman. I can only imagine how Chief Oshkosh felt. Carrying a lot on his shoulders, having to negotiate for lands and to sell land, which was a different concept that the Menominee people didn't know of. >> Probably the worst Treaty that was ever made was in 1848 at Poygan. Oshkosh refused to sign in. Basically, what that Treaty did was it took all Menominee lands and was going to transfer Menominee from Wisconsin to Minnesota. >> Oshkosh and the Delegation of Chiefs, went over there to inspect the land, and when they got there, all they saw was two warring tribes on both sides of this land, and the resources that they had promised weren't there. So, Oshkosh came back, and spoke to the people first. And said that he wanted to go to Washington, and negotiate with President Fillmore to see if the Tribe could stay in Wisconsin in their ancestral lands. >> Through a translator, he spoke for almost an hour to the President. Winfield Scott, who was a General in the US Army said that he was just overwhelmed by the Chief's eloquence and his power of speech. And it made a very big impression on the President and those who were present listening to him. >> Oshkosh said that there was a piece of land in the Ancestral Territory of the Wolf River that no one wanted, considering it to be a wilderness. Oshkosh said, "Let me move my people there. We know these lands. We've lived here for centuries. Let me move my people there, and let us have this as a home." The 1854 Treaty was signed at Keshena Falls, and was here that Oshkosh and other Chiefs signed this Treaty that enabled us to stay in our ancestral home through the Treaty era when a lot of tribes were being removed. >> As the story goes, they packed the house. The votes are taken, and the place is named Oshkosh, overwhelmingly. >> There was only four votes for Athens, only two votes for Stanford, only one vote for Osceola. There were fifteen votes for Oshkosh as the name. >> It's important, I think, for the point of view of appropriateness because it is a Native American place. Menominees were there at the time. Oshkosh was their leader. But it's also important because every state in the Union probably has an Athens, every state in the Union probably has a Stanford somewhere. But from early on here, 1839, this spot has what we now call a brand. It is Oshkosh. From early on, it's a special place.
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