Benjamin G. Armstrong (July 4, 1820 – August 1, 1900) was the son-in-law of

Kechewaishke Chief Buffalo (Ojibwe: Ke-che-waish-ke/''Gichi-weshkiinh'' – "Great-renewer" or Peezhickee/''Bizhiki'' – "Buffalo"; also French, Le Boeuf) (1759? – September 7, 1855) was a major Ojibwa leader, born at La Pointe in Lake Superior's Apostle ...

also known as Chief Buffalo, the principal chief of the

Lake Superior Chippewa The Lake Superior Chippewa (Anishinaabe: Gichigamiwininiwag) are a large number of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) bands living around Lake Superior; this territory is considered part of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in the United States. They ...

(Ojibwa) and a literate white interpreter. He wrote a petition that Buffalo delivered to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

not to have the

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

removed from their homes. He served as an interpreter and advocate for Native American visitors to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

and sat before President Fillmore and

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

in this role. To reward him, when he signed the

1854 Treaty of La Pointe The Treaty of La Pointe may refer to either of two treaty, treaties made and signed in La Pointe, Wisconsin between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native Americans in the United States, Native American peoples. In addition, the Isle R ...

a year before he died, Kechewaishke added this provision:

I hereby select a tract of land one mile square, the exact boundary of which may be defined when the surveys are made, lying on the west shore of St. Louis Bay, Minnesota Territory, immediately above and adjoining Minnesota Point, and I direct that patents be issued for the same, according to the above-recited provision, to Shaw-bwaw-skung, or Benjamin Armstrong.

Armstrong's land, known as the Buffalo Tract, comprised part of today's downtown Duluth and sits on the corner of Lake Superior. Part of it, the former Lake Place Park, is now known as Gichi-Ode' Akiing or in Ojibwe, "''a grand heart place''." Armstrong's ownership survived a

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

case. He authored the book “Early Life Among the Indians: Reminiscences from the Life of Benj. G. Armstrong” in 1892 which documented life in the Lake Superior area in the 1800s and was cited in federal court in a ground-breaking decision on tribal rights and treaty protections. He died on August 1, 1900, and is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in

Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland is a city in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Ashland County. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The population was 7,908 at the 2020 census, al ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Benjamin G. 1820 births 1900 deaths