A collection of four store ledger books from the Keshena, Wisconsin, general store of Joseph Gauthier.

Joseph Gauthier (Joe Gokie in its Menominee rendering) was born on August 18, 1818, at Rock Island, Illinois. He was nearly full-blood Menominee; his father was Shaw-nah-quah-hah and his mother Sho-Sha-Quaer, who was a daughter of sub-chief Kanote and niece of the head-chief Tomah. Gauthier's Menominee father died when he was eight years old, and sometime after his mother married an employee of the American Fur Company named Antoine Gauthier, from whom he took his surname. The frontier schools at Rock Island provided Joseph with a rudimentary education, which he supplemented through his work among U. S. Army officers at Fort Armstrong during the Black Hawk War. In 1850, he left Illinois and rejoined the Menominee, who at the time, were situated at Poygan Lake just west of present-day Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Gauthier found work in a government-operated blacksmith shop and eventually was promoted to shop boss; the Menominee moved to Keshena, Wisconsin in 1852, and the shop was re-established in the new location. In 1857, Gauthier received his first appointment as an official interpreter for the tribe and tribal court, a position he kept for most of the rest of his life. In 1860 or 1861, he went into partnership with Charles Upham and opened a general store and trading post, though Gauthier soon took over the everyday operations of running the store until 1866 when he gained reappointment as tribal interpreter. In 1852, Gauthier married Mary Ann Mo-sha-quah-toe-kiew. They had one child, Frank, who died in infancy; the couple then adopted a small boy, Joseph F. Gauthier, and brought him up as their son. Mary Ann Gauthier died on July 12, 1892, and Joseph Gauthier died in approximately 1899.

0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.