The following is the 19th of a series of book excerpts the LCO News will feature from local author, John Dettloff. The excerpts will be from his new book.
Detloff has lived on the Chippewa Flowage, near New Post, for over 50 years. His family has had a small resort just east of New Post for 56 seasons and for 40 years he has been writing historical articles about the flowage, tribal history (especially Old Post), old guides, old resorts, and fishing.
His new book called Whispers of the Past, A History of the Chippewa Flowage, released on November 1st, gives a comprehensive history of the flowage going back to the fur trade era.
According to Detloff, the book profiles in great detail the people of the "Chippewa Basin" (the area that became flooded by the flowage) and talks about the 300 plus people who were affected by and displaced by the flowage. There were probably 250 plus tribal members and nearly 100 non-tribal members that were affected.
From the Book:
George James and George Fleming
About a half mile northeast of Nikense’s home, along the northernmost cove of Pokegama Lake, was the 73-acre allotment owned by O’Quegan 5th. It was likely during the early 1830s when O’Quegan 5th was born. Her father was Omashkos. O’Quegan had four children who later came to be better known by their full married names, which follow: Mary (Gogi) James Bert Thayer (b. 1851), Maggie James Bennett (b. 1860), Julia James (Wa-qwa-na-bi) Fleming (b. 1870), and George James (b. 1873). Negwanebi was listed as being Maggie and George’s father (and likely was Julia’s father); however, Henry Bert was recorded as being Mary (Gogi) Bert’s father.
Near the shore of Pokegama Lake, there were several homes on O’Quegan’s allotment which her family resided in. Presumably, either her husband was dead, or they had separated by 1886, because O’Quegan was living with her fourteen-year-old son George James at that time. Likely residing in one of the homes that was on his mother’s allotment, George continued living with and caring for his mother for many years. By 1902, once George had married Mary DeBrot (Billy’s sister), it seems that they continued living on the property to assist his mother; however, they likely had a home of their own to live in by that time.
George James worked as a logger, a store clerk at the Post Store around 1910, a fishing guide, and even a resort operator in the village of Post… where he and his brother-in-law Billy DeBrot ran the Pahquahwong Camp from 1916 through 1922. George became well respected as a river guide with their well-to-do resort clientele. During the 1920s, George and Mary adopted two girls (Mary and Margaret) whom they raised. Two miles west of Post, George and Mary James each owned 80-acre allotments adjacent to a long, boggy hollow that extended easterly from Blueberry Creek. After the flowage was created in 1923, that marshy area became known as James Slough. George and Mary separated around 1934, at which time George married Hattie Miller DeBrot. George James died on July 12, 1961, at the age of eighty-eight.
Another of O’Quegan’s children who lived on her allotment was her daughter Julia James (Wa-qwa-na-bi) Fleming. Having married George Fleming (Ma-da-ga-me) by the mid-1890s, Julia and her husband raised six children, three boys and three girls, at their home on the Pokegama Lake allotment. Their children were Shaw-a-na-no-kwe (Mary), born on April 23, 1894; Mi-ki-mak (David), born on August 1, 1894; Nau-jak (John), born on January 12, 1898; Annie (Laura), born in 1901; George, born in 1903, and Esther, born in 1904.
In 1909, George, who had worked in the logging industry for most of his life, purchased 80 acres of land that was located two miles north of the village of Post – off reservation – where he operated a cattle farm. His property extended on both sides of the Little Chief River. It was on the land to the north of the river where he raised his beef cattle to sell to the logging camps. George sold this property in 1918 to Clarence Wise for an undisclosed price, after he learned that it would become flooded with the coming reservoir.
George and Julia’s son, John Fleming, was about seven years old in 1905 when he was sent to the Hayward Indian Boarding School, where it was mandatory for him to live during his years of schooling. The government’s idea of removing the children from their own environment was twofold: to ensure regular attendance for the pupils, but also to prohibit the children from learning about their cultural traditions from of their forefathers. Speaking the Ojibwe language was strictly forbidden. The Indian children’s schooling did indeed teach them many important skills that helped them attain a more secure lifestyle… however it came at a cost of losing an important part of their culture.
Instead of allowing that time of family separation to embitter him, John Fleming drew positive motivation from the suppression and worked the system to his advantage, learning everything he could about the ways of the “white man’s” world. After leaving school rich in knowledge and an articulate man, schooled in various trades, John landed a good job managing an electrical company in St. Paul. After saving his money, he returned home and made a successful life for himself, got married, and had a large family… during which time he operated a store near Riverside (near the West Fork bridge), ran his own logging company, and became one of the most respected fishing guides on the new Chippewa Flowage.
After John Fleming’s grandmother (O’Quegan #5) – the matriarch of the family – passed away, her allotment was inherited by her children and extended family, with the families of George James and George Fleming being the primary family members who had been resided on the property. Further inland from Lake Pokegama onto their allotment, over the top of a ridge and down a hill, was a lowland area to the southwest of Desire Lake. After the Flowage reservoir was created in 1923, a finger of water from Desire Lake flooded into this hollow and transformed it into a long bay which became known as Fleming’s Bay. The lake itself had its name changed from Desire to Moonshine Lake, presumably because someone had gotten caught making moonshine near there.
Desire Lake – by the way – was said to have been named after the old French-Canadian Desire Belille, Charlie Belille’s son, who may have briefly lived near the lake with his son Regis. In 1911, Regis Belille had married Post resident, Esther James, Indian Jim’s granddaughter.
(To order a copy of John Dettloff's new book, send a check or money order for $29.95, plus $7 shipping and 5 1/2% sales tax, made out to Trails End Publishing and send it to: Trails End Publishing, 7431 N Flowage Rd., Couderay, Wi 54828.)
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