The Story Behind the Photograph: Site of the Burnt Village

This photo was made on the location of a former Native American village of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) tribe in southern Wisconsin. They lived in this beautiful place, near the river, from the 1700s until 1832, when the village was burned in an intra-tribal attack, associated with the Black Hawk war. The name “Burnt Village” was ascribed to the location by the U.S. Army, which camped here afterwards in pursuit of the warrior Black Hawk.

The site is identified only by a historical marker sign nearby. In trying to frame the shot, I needed to walk down a small slope to get closer to the riverbank, which introduced two hazards I hadn’t anticipated: 1) the snow on the slope was deeper than it appeared — almost hip deep, and 2) it was difficult to recognize exactly where the shoreline ended and the river’s edge began. Luckily, I didn’t fall into the black, freezing Bark River and I’m still here to recount the story of this beautiful place to you. Buy a fine art print of Site of the Burnt Village here.

Burnt Village historical marker

The site of the Burnt Village is identified by a Wisconsin State historical marker, which reads: The Burnt Village site is located on County Rd N near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Click the map below to go to a Google map of the location.

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