Waubonsie (c. 1760 – c. 1848) was a leader of the
Potawatomi Native American people. His name has been spelled in a variety of ways, including Wabaunsee, Wah-bahn-se, Waubonsee, ''Waabaanizii'' in the contemporary
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...
, and ''Wabanzi'' in the contemporary
Potawatomi language (meaning "He Causes Paleness" in both languages).
Biography
The documentary record of Waubonsie's life is sparse. His birth name, parentage, and place of birth are unknown.
The year of his birth has been estimated from 1756 to 1765.
His brother
Mucadapuckee ("Black Partridge") was also a chief.
According to tradition, Waubonsie acquired his name (which means "Break of Day" (''waaban-izhi'')
or "He Causes Paleness" (''waabaanizii'')
[R. David Edmunds, ''The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 1978, ), 176.]) after sneaking into a place where some enemy
Osages were located, killing and scalping one or more of them, and escaping at daybreak.
During
Tecumseh's War
Tecumseh's War or Tecumseh's Rebellion was a conflict between the United States and Tecumseh's Confederacy, led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in the Indiana Territory. Although the war is often considered to have climaxed with William Henry Ha ...
and the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
, Waubonsie supported
Tecumseh and the British against American expansion. In September 1811, Waubonsie led an attack on one of
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
's supply boats as it ascended the
Wabash River
The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...
in
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. Waubonsie jumped on the boat, killed the lone American on board, and leapt off before the Americans on the far shore could respond.
Waubonsie,
Shabonna, and
Winamac led Potawatomi warriors against Harrison's troops at the
Battle of Tippecanoe
The Battle of Tippecanoe ( ) was fought on November 7, 1811, in Battle Ground, Indiana, between American forces led by then Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American forces associated with Shawnee leader Tecum ...
on November 7, 1811.
Waubonsie opposed the
attack on Fort Dearborn in 1812, and protected the family of
John Kinzie
John Kinzie (December 23, 1763 – June 6, 1828) was a fur trader from Quebec who first operated in Detroit and what became the Northwest Territory of the United States. A partner of William Burnett from Canada, about 1802-1803 Kinzie moved ...
during the massacre that followed.
After the war, he signed treaties with the United States, and thereafter worked to avoid confrontation with the Americans. With other Potawatomi leaders, in 1827 he refused to join the
Winnebago War against the Americans.
When the
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the " British Band", cros ...
erupted in 1832, Waubonsie and other Potawatomi leaders worked to keep their people out of the conflict, but found it difficult to do so. Many white settlers, recalling the Fort Dearborn massacre, distrusted the Potawatomis and assumed that they would join
Sauk leader
Black Hawk's uprising. Potawatomi leaders worried that the tribe as a whole would be punished if any Potawatomis supported Black Hawk. Waubonsie and Potawatomi chief
Shabbona told Black Hawk that they would not come to his aid. Hoping to demonstrate their good intentions to the Americans, the Potawatomis offered military assistance, fielding a force under
Billy Caldwell and Waubonsie. They were less than enthusiastic allies, but managed to demonstrate support for the Americans while avoiding battle.
After the war, Waubonsie visited Washington D.C. on two occasions, and met once with President
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
.
He signed treaties that sold Potawatomi land in Indiana and Illinois to the United States, and moved westward to Iowa. The U.S. government built Waubonsie a house near
Tabor, Iowa
Tabor is a city in Fremont County and extends northward into Mills County in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 928 at the time of the 2020 census.
Geography
Tabor is located at (40.896605, -95.672368).
According to the United States ...
, where he died in 1848 or 1849.
Additional sources indicate Chief Waubonsie died as a result of injuries he sustained in a stage coach accident in Ohio, December 1845, upon a return trip from Washington, D.C., another states he died in Booneville, Missouri, as a result of his injuries in early 1846.
Toponyms and Memorials
*
Waubonsie State Park, Iowa
*
Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Wabaunsee County (standard abbreviation: WB) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 6,877. Its county seat is Alma. The county was created by the territorial legislature of Kansas Terr ...
*
Wabaunsee Township, Kansas
*
Wabaunsee Creek, Kansas
*
Lake Wabaunsee, Kansas
*
Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora, Illinois
*
Waubonsee Community College
Waubonsee Community College is a public community college with three campuses in Illinois: Sugar Grove, Aurora, and Plano. Founded in 1966, Waubonsee Community College serves twelve public school districts in Aurora, Batavia, Big Rock, Brist ...
, Sugar Grove, Illinois
*Wabansia Ave, Chicago, Illinois
*Waubonsee Trail, Batavia, Illinois
USS ''Waubansee'' (YTM-366), a United States Navy harbor tug placed in service in 1944 and stricken in 1983, was also named for him.
References
External links
Kansas State Historical Society Quarterly*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wabaunsee
1760s births
1840s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
Native Americans in the War of 1812
Native American leaders
Native Americans of the Black Hawk War
Potawatomi people