Menominee County, Wisconsin

Menominee County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Keshena
Year Organized: 1961
Square Miles: 358

Court House:

P.O. Box 279
County Courthouse
Keshena, WI 54135-0279

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Name derived from the Chippewa word "Manomini-sibi," from "omanominig," meaning "wild rice people."

When Nicolet in 1634 stepped ashore not far from the present site of Green Bay, the Menominees were living in peace with their neighbors on both sides of the Menominee River, on the present sites of Menominee. Michigan, and Marinette, Wisconsin. Language and legend stamp them as Algonquians. Their name was bestowed upon them by the Chippewa and means "The People of the Wild Rice." As white settlers encroached on their lands and treaties were made with the U.S. Government, the Menominees moved reluctantly from one place to another. By 1831, they had transferred to eastern Indians half a million acres at 4 1/2 cents per acre and another half million acres to the Government at 5 1/2 cents per acre, the money to be paid in annuities. When Wisconsin became a Territory in 1836, they were compelled to sell 184,320 acres through the Fox River Valley for settlement and lumbering at 17 cents per acre, and they had to move again. In 1848 the Government sought to move them to the Crow Wing country of Minnesota, but this time the Menominees under the leadership of Chief Oshkosh refused to move. In 1852 they moved up the Wolf River where in 1854 they were granted ten town-ships, and the present Menominee Indian Reservation.

[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

The county was created on July 3, 1959 in anticipation of the termination of the Menominee Indian Reservation in 1961. The reservation status was restored in 1973, and is now co-extensive with the county. Most of the land within the county boundary is under Federal Trust for the exclusive use by enrolled Menominee Indians. Scattered parcels that were purchased during Termination, as well as many lots around the Legend Lake area in the southeastern part of the county, are the only parts of the county that are privately-owned by non-Indians.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 365 square miles (945 km²), of which, 358 square miles (927 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (18 km²) of it (1.93%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Oconto County - east
Shawano County - south
Langlade County - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Keshena (County Seat)
- Menominee	town

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."