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21-506: The area that is now the city of Milwaukee was originally home to three settlements: Solomon Juneau 's Juneautown, founded on the east side of the Milwaukee River in 1818; Byron Kilbourn 's Kilbourntown on the west side of the river, founded in 1834; and Walker's Point to the south, founded by George H. Walker also in 1834. The early history of Milwaukee was marked by the rivalry between Juneautown and Kilbourntown, mostly due to

42-597: A French Canadian fur trader for the North West Company , and Angelique Roy, a Menominee woman and relative of Potawatomi Indian leaders Ahkanepoway (her maternal grandfather) and Anaugesa. She was the eldest daughter of twelve children. Vieau spent much of her childhood at her father's fur-trading post in Milwaukee. A Catholic, she served at the St. Francis Xavier Mission near Green Bay, Wisconsin . She

63-575: A Potwaomi revenge attack on a settlement on Potawatomi lands by keeping an all-night vigil. Another version of the story claims she spent the night speaking with the Potwaomi, holding off the attack. Juneau was known for her work in the community and mission work. She hosted many ministers who passed through the area, provided nursing care to locals, and taught domestics and Christian doctrine to young women to help them find work. Juneau hosted Milwaukee's first ever mass in her home. Pope Leo XII sent her

84-640: A reproduction of the Veil of Veronica commemorating her Catholic missionary work. Although Solomon Juneau was prominent in the region and the first Milwaukee mayor, Josette Juneau rarely spoke English and rarely interacted with the incoming Americans. The Juneaus built a summer home in Theresa, Wisconsin , to be nearer to the Menominee community, where they retired in 1852. In 1855, Juneau died at her daughter's house in Milwaukee. Today, residents of Theresa ,

105-538: A visit to the Menominee tribe. He died in the arms of Benjamin Hunkins , his "faithful friend and constant nurse." Six Menominee chiefs served as pallbearers at his funeral. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin . Juneau's grandson Paul O. Husting would be elected as a member of the United States Senate . The property that is believed to have once been the site of Juneau's residence

126-566: Is also named after him. In 1820, Juneau married Josette Le-Vieux, the Métis daughter of Jacques Vieau , a fur trader for the North West Company who had built a trading post overlooking the Menomonee Valley years before, and his Menominee wife. Josette was the oldest of 12 children, and was Menominee and French by ancestry. Through her alliances to the tribe, and the relationships fostered through Juneau's business in fur trading, it

147-599: Is now the site of the Mitchell Building , listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Josette Vieau Juneau Josette Juneau (née Josette Roy Le Vieux dit Vieau ; April 16, 1803 – November 19, 1855) was a mixed Indigenous and Settler "founding mother" of Milwaukee , known for her charitable work. Josette Viaux was born on April 16, 1803, in Fort Howard to Jacques Vieau ,

168-632: Is reported that Juneau was popular with the Menominee. After the treaty of 1848 between the United States and the Menominee, he registered his wife and children as half-breeds of the Menominee Nation . In 1854, Juneau and family relocated to Dodge County, Wisconsin , where they founded the village of Theresa , named after Juneau's French-Canadian mother. Josette died there in 1855; Solomon died one year later in Keshena, Wisconsin , on

189-614: The Milwaukee Sentinel , which would become the oldest continuously operating business in Wisconsin . He was the first mayor of Milwaukee from 1846 until 1847, and was appointed its first postmaster . Solomon Juneau High School, built in 1932, is named after him. The school is located at 6415 West Mount Vernon Avenue in Milwaukee. The hour bell in the clock tower of the Milwaukee City Hall , installed in 1896,

210-658: The Menomonee River . Three more bridges were built over the Milwaukee: at Spring Street (now Wisconsin) in 1842, at Oneida (now Wells) in 1844, and one between Walker's Point and Juneautown at North Water Street. Kilbourn was opposed to the Chestnut, Oneida, and North Water bridges, as he felt they would be a hazard to ships visiting his docks. On 3 May 1845, a schooner rammed into the Spring Street bridge,

231-564: The City of Milwaukee. With Juneau came his personal cook Joe Oliver , a Black Catholic believed to have been the first African American in Milwaukee history. In 1831, Juneau began learning English and set in motion the naturalization and citizenship process. By 1835, he was selling plots of land in Juneautown. He built Milwaukee's first store and first inn, and was recognized for his leadership among newcomers to Milwaukee. In 1837 he started

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252-561: The accounting prowess Juneau had become known for, and his reputation for being able to deal well with the local native Americans. Juneau later married one of Vieau's daughters, Josette , and went on to found what was to become the City of Milwaukee. Juneau settled an area east of the Milwaukee River called Juneautown (present-day East Town ) in 1818, which later joined with George H. Walker 's Walker's Point and Byron Kilbourn 's Kilbourntown (present-day Westown ) to incorporate

273-417: The actions of Byron Kilbourn. Kilbourn had been trying to isolate Juneautown to make it more dependent on Kilbourntown. For example, when he laid out his street grid in 1835, he paid no attention to the existing street layout of Juneautown. Kilbourn's maps showed Juneautown as a blank space, and when steamers delivered goods to Kilbourn's west side docks, he ordered the captains to tell passengers that Juneautown

294-491: The difference in the street layouts between what was once Juneautown and Kilbourntown. Solomon Juneau Solomon Laurent Juneau , or Laurent-Salomon Juneau (August 9, 1793 – November 14, 1856) was a French Canadian fur trader, land speculator, and politician who helped found the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin . He was born in Repentigny, Quebec , to François and (Marie-)Thérèse Galarneau Juneau. Joseph Juneau ,

315-569: The founder of the city of Juneau, Alaska , was a cousin of Solomon Juneau. After landing at Fort Michilimackinac in 1816, Juneau worked as a clerk in the fur trade before becoming an agent for the American Fur Company in Milwaukee. He had been summoned to the Milwaukee area by Jacques Vieau , a French-Canadian fur trader and the first permanent white settler in Milwaukee, Wisconsin . In 1818 Jacques Vieau hired Juneau, based on

336-478: The only one that was supported by Kilbourn. Rumors spread that east ward residents, angry at the west warders for refusing to pay for bridge maintenance, had paid the schooner's captain to damage the Spring Street bridge. West warders held a meeting and decided that the Chestnut Street bridge (supported by Solomon Juneau) had become an "insupportable nuisance". The west warders gathered tools and took down

357-512: The pieces to repair the Spring Street bridge. This would have removed both of the east warders' preferred bridges. Angered by this, east warders gathered on 28 May and destroyed the Spring Street bridge, followed by the bridge on the Menomonee. The next few weeks were tense: east and west warders on the "wrong side" of the river were attacked and injured, east warders spread rumors of an attack on Kilbourn's Milwaukee river dam, and by early June

378-444: The trustees ordered that all bridge work be done under armed guard. Tempers slowly cooled as the year went on. In December, the trustees put together a plan for three new bridges, and drafted a city charter. Finally, on 31 January 1846, the city of Milwaukee was formed. An echo of the differences between east and west Milwaukee can still be seen today. Many of the modern bridges across the Milwaukee River run at an angle, reflecting

399-466: The west half of the Chestnut street bridge, collapsing it. Angry east warders gathered weapons, including an old cannon (loaded only with clock weights) that they rolled up to the east side of the river. The cannon was aimed at Kilbourn's home, but the east warders held their fire when they learned that Kilbourn's young daughter had just died. The village trustees voted to remove the Oneida bridge and use

420-489: Was an Indian trading post. The three areas were incorporated into the village of Milwaukee in 1839. In 1840, the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, finding the ferry system on the Milwaukee River to be "inadequate", ordered the construction of a bridge. This first bridge was built over Chestnut Street (now Juneau), with Solomon Juneau's support. That same year Kilbourn built a bridge across

441-578: Was multilingual, fluent and literate in French , and fluent in Menominee , Chippewa , Potawatomi , and Winnebago . In 1820, Vieau married one of her father's employees, Solomon Juneau . She worked at the fur post due to the many languages she spoke, and managed it in her husband's frequent absence. The Juneaus had seventeen children, fourteen of whom survived into adulthood. Juneau was active in their education. Accounts report that Juneau prevented

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