Waukon Decorah - Later Life and Legacy

Later Life and Legacy

In 1837, Decorah was part of a Ho-Chunk delegation that went to Washington, D.C. to seek redress for American encroachment on their land. Even though the delegates had been U.S. allies during the Black Hawk War, they were pressured to sign a removal treaty ceding all Ho-Chunk land west of the Mississippi River to the United States. Decorah signed this treaty as "Wa-kaun-ha-kah (Snake Skin)". The delegates thought that the treaty gave the Ho-Chunks eight years to leave Wisconsin, which would leave them time to negotiate a new treaty, but the wording on the document gave the tribe eight months to vacate Wisconsin and resettle on reservations in Iowa and Minnesota. Ho-Chunks who refused to leave were rounded up by General Henry Atkinson and escorted west, though many later returned.

Decorah's family moved across the Mississippi River into the "Neutral Ground" of northeast Iowa. Later he moved to Long Prairie, Minnesota, and by 1855 he was living in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. Some older histories state that Decorah died in Minnesota at the Blue Earth Indian Agency, but he evidently returned to Wisconsin in the last years of his life. In 1868, the Mauston Star of Mauston, Wisconsin, reported that he died on July 18 while living next to the Lemonweir River near Mauston.

Two Iowa cities, Decorah and Waukon, are often said to be named for him, although Waukon is also said to be named for his son Chief John Waukon. There are other place names, such as Dekorra, Wisconsin, and Decoria Township, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, that are named for his relatives. In 1859, citizens of Decorah, Iowa, exhumed the remains said to be of "Chief Decorah", believed to be the man for whom the city was named, to make way for the city's expansion. The body was re-interred on the grounds of the county courthouse. However, as was rumored at the time, Waukon Decorah was still living in 1859; it is unclear who was actually buried there. The remains of the unknown Native American were exhumed again in 1876 during court house renovations; some of the relics buried with the body were stolen before the remains were re-interred.

Waukon Decorah's son John Waukon is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Waukon. A new headstone was placed at the grave in November 2007.