Winnebago War - Hostilities

Hostilities

In late June 1827, a Ho-Chunk leader named Red Bird, along with Wekau (or Wa-ni-ga, The Sun) and Chickhonsic (or Chic-hong-sic, Little Buffalo), went to Prairie du Chien to seek revenge for what they believed were the executions of the Ho-Chunk prisoners. Unable to locate their intended victim, they instead targeted the cabin of Registre Gagnier, the son of an esteemed African-American nurse and midwife named Aunt Mary Ann. Gagnier welcomed the three Ho-Chunks into his home for a meal. What happened inside varies according to sources. According to one account, Red Bird shot and killed Gagnier, while Chickhonsic shot and killed Solomon Lipcap, a hired man or friend of the family. Wekau tried to shoot Gagnier's wife, but she wrestled his gun away before escaping with her young son. Wekau had to settle for stabbing and scalping Gagnier's infant daughter, who survived the attack. Another account says that only Red Bird committed the murders. Red Bird and his companions returned with the three scalps to their village at Prairie La Crosse, where a celebration was held.

On June 30, 1827, the Prairie La Crosse Ho-Chunks struck again. About 150 Ho-Chunks, with a few Dakota allies, attacked two American keelboats on the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Bad Axe River. Two Americans were killed and four were wounded in the skirmish; about seven Ho-Chunks died in the attack or later from their wounds. According to historian Patrick Jung, "The attack, while relatively small, was significant because it was the first act of war committed against the United States by Indians in the region since the War of 1812."

In their nascent war against the Americans, the Prairie La Crosse Ho-Chunks sought to recruit allies among the Dakotas, Potawatomis, and other Ho-Chunk bands. Most leaders of these tribes, while sympathetic to Ho-Chunk grievances, urged neutrality. Some Potawatomis participated by killing some American livestock, but Potawatomi leaders Billy Caldwell, Alexander Robinson, and Shaubena rode among the Potawatomi settlements and urged people to stay out of the war; they would do the same five years later during the Black Hawk War. Many Ho-Chunks also distanced themselves from the actions of Red Bird and the Prairie La Crosse Ho-Chunks. Without allies, the effort to ignite a widespread war was doomed. By mid-July, writes historian Martin Zanger, "for all practical purposes the 'Red Bird Uprising' was over".