Menekaunee, Wisconsin

Menekaunee, Wisconsin, also spelled Minikani or Menekaune, was a village in Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States; it is now a neighborhood of the City of Marinette.^[1]

Menekaunee was originally a Menominee Indian village at the mouth of the Menominee River. The name Menekaunee is derived from the Menominee language term, Minikani Se'peu, meaning 'village (or town) river'.^[2]

The first European-American settlers did not come to Menekaunee until 1845, although French-Canadian and American fur traders operated a post near here since the early 19th century.^[3] For some time Menekaunee was also known as East Marinette.^[4]

Unlike Marinette, which went comparatively unscathed the Peshtigo Fire of 1871 (although some buildings were burnt on its western border), Menekaunee was severely damaged by it. About fifty buildings burned down, including an extensive new sawmill, three stores, a flour mill, two hotels, and thirty-five houses. Several scows, nearly a million board feet of lumber, and a number of horses, cows and other animal, were burned. Clouds of burning cinders were driven across the river, and were showered upon the decks of vessels seven miles distant on Green Bay.^[5]

Notable residents

• Wiram Knowlton, lawyer, judge and member of the Wisconsin Territory Council
• James Larsin, state legislator

References

1. Peck, George Wilbur. Wisconsin: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Madison: Western Historical Association, 1906, p. 265.
2. Vogel, Virgil J.Indian Names on Wisconsin's Map. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991, p. 117.
3. "The State Helping the City." The Municipality vol. 14, pp. 687 ff., p. 691 (1914)
4. Sawyer, Alvah Littlefield. A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Its People: Its Mining, Lumber and Agricultural Industries. Chicago: Lewis, 1911, p. 880.
5. Robinson, C. D. "The Northern Wisconsin Fires", in Turner, A. J., ed. The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin; comprising Jefferson's Manual, Rules, Forms and Llaws for the Regulation of Business; also, lists and tables for reference [1872] Madison, 1872; p. 476

Coordinates: 45°05′17″N 87°35′46″W / 45.088°N 87.596°W