Sheboygan County Histor Research Center

Sheboygan County's Native American Past Sheboygan County Histor Research Center

Sheboygan County has a rich and varied Native America past. When the first Europeans arrived, there were probably only about a thousand Indians permanently residing in Sheboygan County. During the fishing season on Lake Michigan in spring there were for a few weeks perhaps one or two thousand more. These Indians had relinquished their title to the land by various treaties made with the United States, from 1831 to 1833, but remained here for a number of years until they gradually moved to other locales, as their former hunting and fishing territories disappeared. What is known of the Indians of Sheboygan County comes mostly from the perspective of white settlers. The Native Americans neither kept nor left any written records; they had no written language forms. What is known of their manner of life, their history and traditions, has come down to us in their myths and legends, through archeological remains, and in the accounts of explorers, missionaries, traders and early settlers. The records of even their white observers are scattered and scanty. They are mainly recitals of their own activities, their references to the Indians usually being only incidental. Much valuable information concerning the life and characteristics of the Indians has been obliterated, although some remains. This book will share a sampling of the written information gleaned from the archives of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.