Ho-no-ne-gah

Ho-no-ne-gah was the Potowatomi Indian wife of Stephen Mack, the first white settler in the Rock River Valley. Mack met her in the 1820s while trading with Indians near the present village of Grand Detour. In 1829 Ho-no-ne-gah and her husband moved north to land near the mouth of the Pecatonica River, now Macktown Forest Preserve, and there raised a family of nine children. Ho-no-ne-gah never assimilated into white culture, retaining her Indian dress and manners throughout her lifetime.

Rockford, Illinois · United States