caption tribe native_name birth_date known_for image article_title name
red to u.s. authorities bird dressed in white buckskin for his surrender leader of the winnebago -lrb- or ho-chunk -rrb- ho-chunk : wanig-suchka c. 1788 leader in the winnebago war against the united states file : red bird and wekau.jpg red bird
 red bird
red bird

red bird -lrb- -- 1828 -rrb- was a leader of the winnebago -lrb- or ho-chunk -rrb- native american tribe .
he was a leader in the winnebago war against the united states .
he was for many years one of the most friendly and trusted of the wisconsin indians .
in the late 1820s red bird and his followers began to grow uneasy over the encroachments of lead miners on indian land .
the tribe was also disturbed by the mistaken belief that two ho-chunk had been put to death at fort snelling in 1826 for a murder they did not commit .
near prairie du chien on june 28 , 1827 , red bird and three companions followed the indian code of revenge and under the influence of liquor murdered registre gagnier and solomon lipcap and seriously injured gagnier 's infant daughter .
they fled after gagnier 's wife and son escaped and gave the alarm in prairie du chien .
on june 30 , 1827 , a band of ho-chunk fired on the wisconsin river keelboat `` oliver perry '' killing two of the crew and wounding several others .
with an indian war threatening , the militia was mobilized and federal troops were dispatched to prairie du chien from jefferson barracks , mo. .
to avert a general war , red bird and his companions surrendered at portage on sept. 2 , 1827 .
although the chief expected the dignity of being put to death , he was instead taken to prairie du chien where he died in prison , feb. 16 , 1828 .
several months later the other indians were pardoned .
one of the most dramatic incidents in wisconsin history , the surrender of the proud and handsome chief became the subject of stories , paintings , and plays .
