Issue 11 - Summer 2023
Natives by Weaver's Resort on Pelican Lake
Letter from the President
By Bear Wheeler
By the time this newsletter gets into your hands old Man winter should be gone. This past winter we've been gearing up for this year’s improvements on our museum. To recap last year, we had a full basement put in and then in the fall we had the whole roof redone. Those two projects were of extreme importance to the integrity of the building. This year we are going to have the front wall facing Rummel Street totally reconstructed by Carpentry Service/Steve Herrmann. We need to have electric put in the basement and a heating system so that we can take care of our new foundation. Debi Mejak is continually working on getting us grants to fund the project with terrific success. These grants and the generosity of all of our donors are making this project become a reality. There will also be improvements made to the Fish Employee house in the near future. This house is the only original Fishhouse in Elcho to be as it was when CWFish had them built. All we need to do to it is take off the siding that was nailed to the cedar siding underneath.
River Pigs posing for picture before they help the logs downstream
The feature article in this newsletter is about the Sokaogon Chippewa Tribe in Mole Lake and one of their late chiefs, Willard Ackley. It was written by Richard Ackley. I took bits and pieces of the main article and compressed it to fit in our newsletter. We have many stories of our ancestor's interaction with them in Pelican Lake and Post Lake. They have a very rich history in this area because of the "manoomin", wild rice that proliferates in this area's many waters. Thank you, Richard, for your contribution to the newsletter.
We have been working on family histories of the early families of this area. We purchased archival boxes to store family pictures, newspaper clippings, and other things from
families that have "donated" these items. I say donated, but they are housed here for vour future generations to come and research their ancestors. We are not only working on the building but also of the most important task of preserving the memory of the people that built up our area. We enjoy the fruits of their labors we also labor for the future.
Chippewa Family living on the north side of Elcho
Concise History of the "Post In The Lake" People and Willard Ackley
Written By Richard Ackley
Compiled by Bear Wheeler
The Sokaogon Mole Lake band of the Lake Superior Chippewa reside on the Mole Lake Indian reservation next to Rice Lake, (zaaga-1'-gan manoomin) in Forest County, in Northeast Wisconsin. It was recorded that some 500 Indian warriors died during the 1806 Battle of Mole Lake. The battle between the Chippewa and the Sioux was fought over the wild rice bed that exists here. The Ojibway refer to wild rice as o'manoomin" meaning the food that grows on the water. Wild rice has always been a staple of the Chippewa diet and is still harvested and processed today, in the traditional way.
The last major “treaty” signed by the Sokaogon Chippewa was in 1855. There is not a consistent tracing of the Sokaogon Chippewa in terms of the Treaty of 1854 and the United States. Sokaogon Chippewa are difficult to trace because of a number of "official" names by which the Sokaogon Chippewa (Mole Lake) Band were known.
Also, another band of Chippewa originate elsewhere with a similar name during this period. The Sokaogon Chippewa are virtually "lost" in official annual reports between 1862-1899. Second, the records of the Sokaogon Chippewa are difficult to trace between 1854 to 1906 in official files largely due to written actions by successive Indian Agents and third, Sokaogon Chippewa signatories to the 1854 Treaty were not accurately geographically located.
From 1836 to 1854, four land cession treaties were signed between the United States Government and the Ojibwe tribes living in a vast area around Lake Superior that later became the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. In return for their land, the Ojibwe reserved the right to hunt, fish, and gather throughout the ceded territories, including Lake Superior.
Willard LeRoy Ackley was born in England in 1818, and was the first white settler in Wisconsin's Langlade County. Little is known of his boyhood days except that he was a venturesome lad, who was lured to the Western states by the stories of adventure among the Indian tribes and fur traders of the great northern wilderness. He came west to Wausau where he stopped for a time before definitely settling in Ackley Township, Langlade County where the West Branch and East Branch of the Eau Claire River merge together. This was the year 1850. He built a log cabin and trading post and homesteaded where part of the land is now the Riverview Golf Course, (west of Antigo). He also had a logging camp which appears along with the cabin site on the government survey maps made by James Marsh in 1851 and re-establishment was designated by J.C. Fellows in June 1859.
The logging camp was located near the Galuska farm. Some men made it their trade to drive logs down the river. With his camp crew egging him to marry, as his cooking was "something else to be desired", he decided to take a bride. The Sokaogon Chippewa Indian tribe stopped at Ackley's Trading Post every Spring on their way to Post Lake. Ackley walked to Post Lake to choose his Indian bride. He chose Me-Da-Gee-Wa-No-Quay “Maiden of the forest”, a Chippewa lndian and daughter of Chief Mee-gee-see known as Great Eagle. The two of them walked to Wausau where they were married by a Justice of the Peace and then went back to the cabin on the Eau Claire River. It was at this time he changed his name from Acly to Ackley as his family strongly opposed the marriage to an Indian woman. He had relation in the eastern U.S.A. This marriage must have taken place in 1853-1854 as their first son was born in 1855. She was about 16 years Willard's senior. Mrs. Willard Ackley (Mary) they called her had been married before to an Indian runner of her father's. A runner’s job was something like that of a scout. These men were sent ahead to find places for the tribe to move and look out for danger. Mary's first husband died during one of these runs. She and her first husband had two children, a boy and a girl.
The daughter Sarah was married to John Hogarty who had a trading post at Hogarty. The son, Missabe or (Mesabe) was adopted by Willard Ackley and bore the name of Ed Ackley. The Ackleys were very good to the early pioneers. Many stayed with them until their homes were built. Ackley had some equipment for raising hogs and very willingly helped all his neighbors. He was often ridiculed for his kindness by those he helped. My father "Orvis Vaughan" who was raised close to the Ackleys wrote: Willard Ackley was a prince among men. If I ever met a better man than Ackley I don't know it to this day. He gave of what he had to all that asked and a great many never paid. The first settlers above the forks of the Eau Claire couldn’t raise a barn or house without Ackley or his ropes or both, and most of them thought they were better than he was.
Willard L. Ackley, grandson of Willard LeRoy (Acly) Ackley was born on Christmas Day in 1885, at Bishop Lake near Crandon. He was named after his grandfather Willard LeRoy Ackley. Willard attended a government-run boarding school near Tomah, WI. In 1909 he went to work in a logging camp in Odanah, WI, near the Bad River Chippewa. He returned to the Crandon area in 1917 and learned the carpenter trade. His first wife Sadie died and he then married Dora Johnny, rearing his son Charles. When Willard moved back to Mole Lake in 1917 he was visited by the older members of the tribal community and they told him about the "lost" document. The original document which promised the Sokaogon people a 12-square-mile reservation was in the possession of a government agent as he carried it back to Washington DC. Unfortunately the ship on which he traveled, went down in a tragic accident on Lake Superior all aboard were lost. The only copy was in the possession of a trusted fur trader who acquired it from the Sokaogon as a form of collateral for some various debts. Later the fur trader became ill and gave it to some unknown man who had been caring for him, who also later died. The copy has not been recovered to this day.
Natives bv Weaver's Resort on Pelican Lake
Willard was officially recognized as Chief of the Sokaogon Band in 1929. He met with John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs and was instrumental in establishing the current reservation starting with approximately 1700 acres in 1934. Chief Ackley was asked by the US government where he wanted to locate his reservation. After consulting with his tribal Elders, a spot was selected adjacent to Mole Lake and including Rice Lake, Forest County Wisconsin. His first job was obtaining information about treaties. After that he made many trips to meet with government agents and finally traveled to Duluth, MN to hire an attorney to press the tribe's claim for a reservation status. This took place during the Great Depression at a time when money was scarce. Chief Ackley sold deer hides and beadwork and also helped to care for many of the children around Mole Lake. He is credited with bringing electricity to Mole Lake in 1948, and running water in 1963. Simply referred to by everyone as "Uncle Willard", he was dedicated throughout his life to this community.
He died at age 84 in 1969 at his residence, an old shack on the west side of Hwy 55 in Mole Lake. Before the reservation was formally approved following the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Sokaogon had always lived in the vicinity near Rice Lake without the benefit of any form of tribal government, other than the ability to hold council meetings.
The Sokaogon are known as the "post in the lake" people. The 1930 Census revealed a total population of 212 people. In 1968 the Sokaogon received additional lands which brought the reservation size to just under 2,000 acres.
Thank you
Building Renovation
Sheldon Foundation, Inc.
Kohler Foundation
Wisconsin Public Service Foundation
Family & Various Individuals in memory of Connie Hubatch
Jean & Bob Hess - Elcho, WI
Elcho Clubhouse, Cindy & Jim
Bryan Spransy - Installation of sump pump
Bear Wheeler - Remove non - load bearing wall
New Members
Ronald Koepke - Richfield & Elcho, WI
Joan M. Gehrig - Harlingen, TX
Marilyn S. Lambert - New Franklin, WI
Pelican Lake Chamber of Commerce - Pelican Lake, WI
Tina & Bob Ramussen - Summit Lake, WI
Cheryl & Jeff Marx - Elcho, WI
Nancy L. Pelzer - Ames, IA
Joanne Rupple - Elcho, WI
Post Lake Improvement Association - Elcho, WI
Jim & Lori Rodgers - Brookfield, WI
Bob & Sue Brautigam - Pelican Lake, WI
Membership Renewals
Fred Shuster - Weston, WI
Tom & Lois Altenburg - Monona, WI
Jon Kechonen - Summit Lake, WI
Chris & Chriss Felicianc - Elcho, WI
Marilyn, George & Kristine Rock - Greenville, WI
Jean & Bob Hess - Elcho, WI
Bill Ahrens - Pearson, WI
Mary Jo & Tom Moran - Elcho, WI
Warren & Jane Wagner - Elcho, WI
Jannai' & Eric Rusch - Elcho, WI
Sarilee Maney - Wauwatosa, WI
In Memoriam Donations
Connie & Jim Hubatch in memory of Pat Curran
Connie & Jim Hubatch in memory of Elaine Held
Debi & Greg Mejak in memory of Gloria Popek
Monetary Donations
Modern Woodmen of America
Builders Service - Elcho, WI
Bill & Char Kraft - Fall Creek, WI
Nancy Stanish
Tom & Lois Altenburg - Monona, WI
Beth & Donald Goerke - Elcho, WI
Jim & Cindy, Elcho Clubhouse - Elcho, WI
Dion Migas - Elcho, WI
Items Donated
Builders Services - Shingles & supplies for museum roof
Summit Construction - A section of roof underlayment
Norma Doering - Elcho Centennial 1887- 1987 - pin
Kathryn Des Jarlais - Your Household Guide for 1951
Post #377 Auxiliary
Joe Jacobs & Brian Roberts - Grade land around Grange Hall
Modern Woodmen of America - Office supplies
Bryan Spransy - Items donated for UCC craft show raffle
Dean Williams - Shipping Trunk (4' x 2')
Nick & Jeannette Slam - Gandy Hammer
Bob Riemer - Elcho Drug CascaraAromattc Alcohol Bottle
Otto Tiegs - Fish $1.00 coin & Boettcher bottle tops
Bryan Spransy - Laptop Computer
Jerry & Chriss Berenz- Fish Lumber Company Partial metal plate
Susan & John Liss - Breakfast Raffle Basket
In addition to the specific individuals listed above we would like to THANK all those that supported and worked on our Brat Barn and Music in the Park fundraising events. We couldn't have accomplished what we did this year without all your generous time and effort.