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Garrison life and native customs

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Everyday affairs and extraordinary frontier exploits

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A rich and complex convergence of cultures

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Wars, privation, and struggles for survival

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Compassion, generosity, and sacrifice

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Beauty juxtaposed with danger in the wilderness

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Weighty issues and critical decisions that would

reverberate for generations

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...back when Chicago was a prairie...when indigenous tribes inhabited the lands of their fathers...when prominent figures in the annals of history had not yet risen above obscurity...when John H. Kinzie served as Indian sub-agent at Fort Winnebago in frontier Wisconsin...

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It’s all here in Wau-Bun.

 

First published in 1856, Wau-Bun endures as a fascinating and indispensable firsthand account of the ‘early day’ in the frontier Midwest. The volume also poignantly serves as a catalyst for deeper consideration of the crucial lessons of history that we dare not forget. 

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Discover the rest of the story

in the Historic Preservation Edition:

 

• The resilience of the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Nation in the face of trauma and suffering after their forced removal from their homeland

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• The endeavors of the Kinzies after leaving Fort Winnebago in 1833

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• The story of the rescue and restoration of the Indian Agency House during the Great Depression (...now a museum since 1932)

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The Historic Preservation Edition also features an introduction and footnotes by early 20th century historian Louise Phelps Kellogg. 

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