The Battle of St. Croix Falls

At the head of St. Croix Falls in about 1770, a Chippewa war party led by Chief Wau-bo-jeeg prepared for battle against the Fox and Sioux. The two sides met on the portage below this point in a fierce fight, and as each side advanced and fell back, dead and wounded warriors littered the crags and crevices of the dalles where the St. Croix River forces a passage through narrow rocks, while many others plunged to a watery grave in the boiling floods below. According to Indian tales of the battle, the voices of the war chiefs rose above musketry and the yells of their warriors as they urged them to stand their ground. After beginning the fight confidently and ending it desperately, the Fox and Sioux were routed. This was the last tribal battle of the Fox Indians, and the few survivors retreated far to the south, begged to be taken into the Sac tribe, and saw their tribal fire extinguished. In this victory, the Chippewas secured the territory and made it safe for white settlers to come.

St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin · United States