Francis Xavier Bergeron was a French-Canadian born near Quebec, Canada, and arrived around the Kankakee area in the late 1830s. After removal west of the Mississippi, a Potawatomi tribal member named Watchekee or Watseka often made trips back to Illinois. She and Francis met on one of these excursions and wed around 1840. They had four children: Jean Batiste, Catherine …
Benjamin Hendre Bertrand was born June 25, 1812 in Berrien Country, Michigan to Madeline Bourassa and Joseph Bertrand. Like his cousins Joseph and Jude Bourassa, Benjamin attended the school at Carey Mission at the age of 7. He later transferred to a private school in Detroit, Michigan and then reunited with his Bourassa family at the Choctaw Academy at White …
This contemporary artifact, styled after an ancient Potawatomi war club known as a bgemagen, was created by tribal member Bud Onzahwah. Crafted from wood, stone and leather, its historically ergonomic design eased storage, travel and use during battle. The bgemagen [war club] is part of the permanent collection and on exhibition at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center. Pre-dating …
The event known as “Bleeding Kansas” was a period of guerilla warfare, in what was then known as the Kansas Territory, which started in 1854 and lasted until 1859. The violence was sporadic, mostly small-scale and unorganized, but led to mass terror erupting within the Kansas Territory. The conflict arose after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the question of …
31in W x 25in H x 19in D The camel back trunk was used as a footlocker by David P. Johnson when he attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School [Pennsylvania] from 1895-1899. The trunk is made of wood, metal and leather. Embossed on the latch is the patent date, July 9, 1872. Stenciled on the side of the trunk is, Indian …
Daniel Bourassa was the son of French-Canadian fur trader Rene Bourassa and Anne Chevalier. He was born on October 8, 1752 on Mackinac Island, Canada. After the French and Indian War, Daniel and his family moved to Fort Detroit. With the British now controlling the fur trade in the region, more lucrative opportunities became available. At the age of 34, …
Born June 22, 1780, Daniel II was the son of Daniel Bourassa and Marguerite Bertrand. Descending from a family of fur traders, Daniel took after his father and became an agent for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. On March 15, 1808, Daniel married a Nishnabe woman named Theotis Pisange. Theotis’ father was Ojibwe and her mother was Odawa, believed …
Joseph Napoleon Bourassa was born March 19, 1810 in Michigan, the eldest child of Daniel Bourassa II and Theotis Pisange. As a youth, Joseph and his brother Jude were enrolled at the school at Carey Mission, under the guidance of Baptist missionaries Reverend Isaac McCoy and Dr. Johnston Lykins. Excellent students, both were invited to attend the Hamilton Literary & …
Jude Bourassa was born April 19, 1814 near the Galien River in southwest Michigan. He was the third son of Daniel Bourassa II and Theotis Pisange. With his older brother Joseph Napoleon, Jude was enrolled at the school at Carey Mission, under the instruction of Baptist missionaries Dr. Johnston Lykins and Reverend Isaac McCoy. An apt pupil, Jude was invited …
Born on June 25, 1842 at Sugar Creek, Kansas, Theodore Santa Anna was the son of Jude Bourassa and Catherine Charet. With the Bourassa’s closely associated with the Catholic Missionaries, church records indicate that Father Christiaan Hoeken christened Theodore on June 27, 1842 at two days old. During the Civil War, Theodore volunteered to fight for the north and was …