Red Cliff, Wisconsin (A History of an Ojibwe Community-Vol. 1, The Earliest Years: The Origin to 1854)

Red Cliff, Wisconsin: A History of an Ojibwe Community, (Volume 1), is the story of the first three hundred and more years of the Ojibwe people in the Chequamegon Bay region of western Lake Superior. This volume covers the Ojibwes’ arrival, the coming of the French, English, and Americans, and concludes with 1854 and the advent of the reservation era. Telling the history of the first people in the area, Howard Paap expertly shows how the early French traders and the English and Americans who eventually resettled the land affected the Ojibwe people. Using treaties and writings from the era, he also explores the forces at work—on either side—in the long history of Chequamegon Bay and the surrounding areas. Through it all, he shows objective compassion for those caught inbetween the governments’ wishes and those of the people.