A family of the Algonquian nation, residing upon the Menomonee River, in
Wisconsin.
They assert that their ancestors emigrated from the
East, but they were found on their present domain in 1640 by the
French.
Jesuit missions were established among them in 1670 by
Allouez and others.
The
Menomonees were fast friends of the
French, marched to the relief of
Detroit in 1712, and subsequently drove the Foxes from
Green Bay.
Some of their warriors were with the
French against
Braddock in 1755; also at the capture of
Fort William Henry, on
Lake George, and on the
Plains of Abraham with
Montcalm.
In the
Revolutionary War and the
War of 1812 they were the friends of the
English.
They assisted in the capture of
Mackinaw in 1812, and were with
Tecumseh at Fort Meigs and at
Fort Stephenson in 1813.
After that they made several treaties with the
United States, and they served the government against the Sacs and Foxes in 1832 (see
Black Hawk War). The religion of the Menomonees was that of all the other tribes in the
North.
They are now about half pagans and half Roman Catholics.
They refused to join the
Sioux in their outbreak in 1861, and several of their warriors were volunteers in the
National army.
They are fading, like the other tribes.
In 1822 they numbered nearly 4,000; in 1899, 1,375, all at the
Green Bay agency.
