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Ho-Chunk chief Spoon Decorah looks back over a long life.

Narrative of Spoon Decorah.


Ho-Chunk chief Spoon Decorah granted this interview to Reuben Gold Thwaites in March of 1887, when he was about 80 years old. Decorah recounts traditions about Tecumseh, his memory of the Winnebago War of 1827, and events surrounding the Black Hawk War. He also describes how the Ho-Chunk mined lead in southwestern Wisconsin in his youth, and how white settlement changed the lives of the Ho-Chunk, including their removal west of the Mississippi and ultimate return to their homelands.

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Related Topics: Territory to Statehood
The War of 1812
The Black Hawk War
Treaty Councils, from Prairie du Chien to Madeline Island
Lead Mining in Southwestern Wisconsin
Creator: DeKaury, Spoon, Ho-Chunk Indian, d. 1889.
Pub Data: Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin vol. 13 (Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1895): 448-462.
Citation: DeKaury, Spoon. "Narrative of Spoon Decorah." Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1895): 448-462. Online facsimile at:  http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=34; Visited on: 5/21/2013
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