Upper Fox River WI67
On these banks of the Upper Fox River June 7, 1673, explorers Marquette and Jolliet visited the Mouscouten Indian Tribe that lived here. For many years traders and missionaries camped here while visiting the Indians. In 1846 Nathan Strong, a Flourierite, was commissioned by the Federal Government to select a site for a bridge to reach the timberland to the north. Strong selected this location and founded it as Strong's Landing. Settlers of English descent arrived in 1847, followed by immigrants from Poland and Germany. In 1857, a Community Charter was authorized and the name Berlin was chosen. Until 1890 the Fox River played an important role in transportation. Steamboats carried freight and passengers on the Upper Fox from Lake Winnebago to the Wisconsin River Canal at Portage. Excursion boats continued to use the river until 1920 when dredging was discontinued.

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Trail Discovery WI409
On July 18th, during the Black Hawk War of 1832, Little Thunder -- a Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian guide to the u.s. Militia -- discovered Black Hawk's Band crossed the Rock River in this vicinity. After receiving the news, Gen. James D. Henry and Col. Henry Dodge and the militia also crossed the river and followed the band's trail west.

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Black Hawk War Encampment 'burnt Village' WI407
A large Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Village dating from the 1700s once stood in this vicinity. Just before the 1832 Black Hawk War, the village was burned during an intra tribal battle. On July 6th and 8th, the United States Military camped at this site in their pursuit of Black Hawk and named this place Burnt Village.

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Valley View Site WI267
This is the location of a village occupied between 1000 and 1200 by the Oneota, ancestors of the Winnebago and Ioway. The village site was chosen by the Oneota to make the best use of the area for farming, fishing, hunting, transportation, and defense. The village was surrounded by a stockade and inhabited by 50 to 100 people. It was excavated in 1978 by archaeologists and students from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

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Spence Park WI242

Because of the fertile soil and lush woodlands on the river shores, the Winnebago Indians settled in this area in 1772. Sixty years later they ceded these lands to the US. Government. In 1842, Nathan Myrick, the first white settler in La Crosse, built his log cabin and trading post on this site. It was designated a public boat landing in 1851.

This was the most strategic Mississippi River port on the western boundary of Wisconsin. Boats traveling north and south docked here, and wagons traveling west crossed the river on ferries from this place. La Crosse thus became known as the Gateway City.

The Indians made this a neutral ground and met on the prairie east of here only in peace, and competed in athletic contests. Their most notable game was lacrosse, from which the city derived its name.

In 1903 the city named this park for Thomas H. Spence, a pioneer businessman and civic leader who gave this land to the people.

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Chief Win-no-shik, the Elder WI216
Win-no-shik, the Elder, was a notable chief of the Winnebago. On a treaty signed Febmary 27, 1855, at Washington, D. c., his signature reads "Wau-kon-chaw-koohaw, or the Coming Thunder, or Win-no-shik." Win-no-shik was promoted to the rank of chief when quite young and was always popular with his people. Historians have written that he was of medium-size, handsome, and "always carried a pipe, especially at council meetings. As a man, he was modest, kind and courteous: as a chief, dignified, firm and just in the exercise of his authority." In 1829, Win-no-shik was head chief of the larger Winnebago village at La Crosse. When the Winnebago moved to Iowa, he was made head chief of the tribe and remained chief of his own band. After Win-no-shik's death, his brother, young Winneshiek, or Short Wing, and his son, Little Winneshiek, or Striking Tree, moved back to Wisconsin, near Black River Falls, where his descendants still live.

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Decorah Peak WI81
The rock-crested hill to the east was named after One-Eyed Decorah, a Winnebago chief who, according to tradition, took refuge in a cove near the peak after being wounded in a Chippewa attack on his village. He remained in hiding throughout the bloody engagement and then at nightfall made his way down the Black River to another Winnebago settlement. The next day he returned, surprised the celebrating Chippewa and routed them. With other Wisconsin chiefs Decorah signed a treaty with the United States at Prairie du Chien on August 19, 1825, establishing a tribal boundaries in the hope of securing "a firm and perpetual peace." He achieved his greatest renown after the Black Hawk War when he accompanied the defeated Black Hawk and the Prophet to Prairie du Chien, where on August 27, 1832, the two Sauk leaders surrendered.

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Knaggs Ferry WI27
James Knaggs, who lived across the river from this point, operated a ferry here for nineteen years. In 1831 John and Juliette Kinzie, traveling on horseback from Green Bay to their Indian agency assignment at Portage, were ferried across. In the summer of 1836 Webster Stanley came by Durham boat and built a shanty. He was soon joined by Henry and John Gallup, who came on foot from Green Bay. The same year, Gov. Henry Dodge and his party crossed on their way to the Council at the Cedars, where the Menominee Indians ceded to the United States all their land between the Fox and Wolf Rivers. Later Gallup and Stanley moved across the river and settled near its mouth. This located the business center of Oshkosh. The ferry era ended with the building of float bridges at Main Street (1847) and Algoma (1850).

Winnebago County Historical Society 1955

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Butte des Morts (Hill of the Dead) WI40
In 1730 the French government decided to destroy the Fox village on the shore of this lake because of the depredations of the Foxes on the fur traders. Capt. Morand came up the river with a large force of French soldiers and Menominee warriors. The soldiers were concealed under canvas until they were opposite the Indians gathered on the shore. Then they rose and fired into the crowd. The Menominees, meanwhile, attacked the village from the rear. The village was destroyed and its inhabitants slaughtered. The bodies were piled in a heap and covered with earth, forming the Hill of the Dead. In 1827 Governor Cass held a council here with the Winnebago, Chippewa, and Menominee tribes to fix their tribal boundaries. At this council Oshkosh was made chief of the Menominees.

Erected 1955

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Samuel N. Rogers, Sr., Soldier of the American Revolution WI225

Born on June 3, 1760, at Branford, Connecticut, Samuel N. Rogers Sr. served several terms of enlistment with Captain Peck's Company, Col. Roger Eno's Regiment of the Connecticut militia from 1777 to 1781. Following the war, he moved to New York state, and in 1839 he moved to Walworth County, Wisconsin. In 1848, at an advanced age, he accompanied his son, Samuel N. Rogers Jr., to Winnebago County, settling in the Town of Winchester. He died at the age of ninety-two in 1852 and is buried in this cemetery.

Three veterans of the War of 1812, John D. Clarke, Mayhew D. Mott, and Jacob A. Raught, are also buried here in the Winchester Township Cemetery.

Erected 1976

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