Native American History of Sauk County

The first residents of what we now call Sauk County were the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indians. No one knows how long they hunted and fished the lands of Southern Wisconsin, but we do know that there were several settlements located in various sections of the county in the mid 1800's. One of these settlements was located about two miles west of the Sauk County Health Care Center. It was in a natural wooded pocket with good clear spring water nearby.

The village consisted of ten or twelve permanent lodges with a burying ground nearby. The population of the village varied throughout the year with more natives residing there during the winter months. When Pow-Wows were held at the site, there was an influx of Indians from neighboring villages which swelled the population to four or five hundred. Early white settlers who were invited to visit these affairs would report that they were "spectacular and motley." 

Ah-Ho-Cho-Ka, or Blue Wing, led this tribe of Winnebagos, who were descendants of the Sioux Nation. He was tall and straight of stature and lived to be well over 100 years old. He was well informed about the events of his time and undoubtedly became concerned as more white settlers arrived from the lands to the east. But he was a man of even temperament and he seldom complained. His greatest qualities, according to his contemporaries, were his good nature, kindness and integrity. He always dealt fairly with his white neighbors. He was well liked by both his tribe and by the settlers and was often invited to spend the night with them when he came to call.

Ah-Ho-Cho-Ka's tribe lived off the land that surrounded his village. They trapped the beaver, mink and muskrat that abounded in the nearby Narrows Creek. They fished and hunted in what are now the townships of Westfield, Franklin, Washington and Bear Creek. Frequent hunting trips through what was to become the village of Loganville took them south over the gently rolling hills and down the grassy valleys that lay in that direction. They would return to their campsite with deer, elk, and bear. The meat provided food and the skins were tanned and used for clothing and shelter.

A letter written to the Old Settler's Assoc. by Levi Cottington in 1925 reads in part: "We arrived in Reedsburg in October of 1851, by wagon from Milwaukee. At that time there was not a house in Loganville, neither did it have a name, but the Indians seemed to make it their resort for getting together at my uncle John Mephem's where we stayed until February 1852."

Another letter written by Cecelia Newell, an early resident in the area, to a friend back East in 1857 states: "We have strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries not in abundance, for the fires run thru the woods so often, that it destroys the berries. The Indians have set the fires mostly, but now they have left this part, nearly all of them, and I have seen only one or two this summer."

In 1851, Ah-Ho-Cho-Ka purchased from the U. S. Government, his tribal territory of 40 acres surrounding the village. He and his tribe of Winnebagos continued to live there until 1861 when they moved to a site northwest of Reedsburg along the Baraboo River. Later, some of his tribe relocated to Tomah and Ah-Ho-Cho-Ka went to live with them in his declining years. He died there in November of 1893.