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JOHN "FALCON" TANNER (1780-1840)

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gnstill
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JOHN "FALCON" TANNER (1780-1840)

Post by gnstill » Sun Apr 27, 2014 8:52 am

New Featured Family: JOHN "FALCON" TANNER (1780-1840)

Please post comments and queries about John TANNER and his children here.

James Brakken
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Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 6:34 am

Re: JOHN "FALCON" TANNER (1780-1840)

Post by James Brakken » Fri Apr 28, 2023 6:33 pm

LOTS of updates needed here.
First, John Falcon Tanner did NOT die in the Soo. He knew he'd be lynched for the murder of James Schoolcraft so he bugged out. Decades later he told an Ashland, WI newspaperman that he was visited by a spirit that told him to travel 13 days west where he'd find a new home. I've put the details in my novels about Chief Namakagon, a name he acquired after settling in NW WI in 1846. He lived here another 40 years, so the US Army death date of 1846 is hogwash. When I connected the dots, I found his name on a document in the Ashland County Courthouse that proves Chief Namakaon (Mikwam-mi-Migwam) is, without a doubt, John Falcon Tanner.

It took several years, but I found many of his descendants. About 600 of them comprise the Gambler First Nation in Binscarth, MB. When I told them of my find they were overjoyed. The typical response was "We knew our great, great, great, great grandfather would not have wandered out into the woods and perished like Henry Schoolcraft said." They were thrilled to read my account of his final 40 years in Wisconsin. (10 miles from where I grew up and now live, by the way.) Some have traveled her from MB to see his old stomping grounds.

Another Tanner, a fellow named Gary Tanner of Lexington, KY, is a 5th gen descendant. Gary wrote a wonderful book about the family line that dates back to the 1400s. He know more about the Tanner line than any person on the planet. Google MY TANNER FAMILY HISTORY book and you'll see his marvelous book.

John Falcon Tanner lived in NW WI from 1846 to 1886. He had a secret silver mine here that provided $ for himself and his daughter. He died w/o telling anyone where it is. Treasure hunters come here today to search for the mine. I don't know where it is but I believe I can put you on the 40 acre parcel that he homesteaded along the Brunsweiller River in the silver mining region of Ashland County. If you come here and find it, let me know. I'll let you buy me a beer! Contact me for info.

I believe one fellow did find the mine. He was old and did not want to go into the mining trade. He died w/o telling anyone where it was. I also believe that Ben Armstrong, an 1850s fur trader was a good friend of Tanner. I have re-published Armstrong's 1894 memoir. In it, he mentions that he knew an old "Indian" (Tanner lived the life of an Anishinabe but his DNA was as white as the snow.) who hatd a silver mine. 3 times, the "old Indian" took Armstrong out to see the mine. All 3 times Tanner turned back, not wanting to upset the Great Spirit. This story has been handed down through the decades. It usually includes them seeing a bear that stood on his haunches and raised his front paws as a warning to not proceed. Read my THE TREASURE OF NAMAKAGON and you will learn all
I believe John Falcon Tanner died Nov 18, 1886 at the hands of a man who wanted to know where the silver mine was. I believe I may be the only person alive who knows the name of Tanner's killer. I think I am the only one who knows where he is burried. I have walked his property, breathed the air that he breathed (so have you, by the way) and felt his presence. I have seen his name on official gov't documents. I know of a number of abandoned silver mines in our region, though not his. My books tell his story. He was not a good-for-nothing old man as the 1880s newspaper said. Instead, he was a bright, caring woodsman who lived alone, wondering if this might be the day when the US Army would capture him and hang him from the nearest tree. Today, he is revered by some as one of the first to make his home here. For 4 decades he was the only resident of Lake Namakagon. Today, there are over 400 homes on the lake and most of the people there have no idea who Chief Namakagon was. My books are at BadgerValley dot com. You won't be disappointed. JB

James Brakken
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 6:34 am

Re: JOHN "FALCON" TANNER (1780-1840)

Post by James Brakken » Sun Apr 30, 2023 5:25 pm

By the way, there is an island in the north end of Lake Namakagon called "Chief Namakagon Island." He moved one of his camps there when the lumber company put in a dam at the outlet of the lake. This caused the lake to rise about 14 feet, submerging his other camps. The island is like a small but high "hump" in the lake, an obvious place for a camp when you consider the water is rising day by day. Many would-be treasure hunters go to the island, thinking that is where they will find his secret silver mine. Don't bother. His mine is somewhere in the Marengo silver mining fields north east of the lake. My book, THE DEATH OF CHIEF NAMAKAGON, shows a map of the mining area. My 3rd novel about Chief Namakaon, AKA John Falcon Tanner, AKA Migwam-mi-mikwana or "Ice Feathers" shows the 40 acre parcel he homesteaded in the mining region. I've been on the land and I've panned for gold in the neighboring Brunsweiller River, his old stomping ground.

James Brakken
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 6:34 am

Re: J OHN "FALCON" TANNER (1780-1840)

Post by James Brakken » Sun Apr 30, 2023 5:50 pm

The first novel in my Chief Namakagon trilogy tells of John Falcon Tanner's move from Sault Ste. Marie, MI to his home on Lake Namakagon. He was the sole resident on this 3000 acre lake for the next 40 years. I never intended to write a second novel about him, but my years of research convinced me he met with foul play in November, 1886. The man who found his body was known to be looking for his secret silver mine, He put the old chief's body on a flatcar and had it shipped away from his home to Ashland, WI. The newspaper said Namakagon's body was buried in Ashland but the cemetery has no record of that. No doctor, no sheriff's dept person saw the body. It vanished. I believe the man who did him in had him buried in an unmarked grave near the Marengo silver fields. If so, his killer is buried within sight of Namakagon's grave.

James Brakken
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 6:34 am

Re: JOHN "FALCON" TANNER (1780-1840)

Post by James Brakken » Mon May 01, 2023 7:52 am

Because of the time and energy I've invested looking into the final 40 years of the life and death of Chief Namakaon, AKA John Falcon Tanner, I believe I know more about his life than anyone on this planet. My research has also led me to learn about his early life and to connect with his descendants. I now know he was born in Boonesborough, KY in 1780. His father was a clergyman who preached to Daniel Boone and his family along with others from the fort. I also know that Namakagon (Tanner) carried letters of introduction that were penned by Thomas Douglas, the 5th Earl of Selkirk (Owner of the Hudson Bay Company), William Clark (think Lewis and Clark), the Governor of Missouri Territory (when it stretched from St. Louis to California), and Lewis Cass, Secretary of War and Governor of Michigan Territory (when it stretched from Detroit to the Dakotas and included WI, IA, & MN). Also, Namakagon was interviewed by Alexis de Tocqeville when that author came here from France to write about this "new" nation. Although he was portrayed in our local newspaper as a drunken Indian and regarded as a ne'er-do-well, in truth he was an honest, upright, educated author of a memoir that was first printed in NYC and then in Paris, Germany, London, and Russia. In Sault Ste. Marie, Tanner was accused of the 1846 murder of James Schoolcraft and fled to NW WI where he took on a new name and lived a hermit's life for the next 40 years. The US Army and the RCMP looked for him in 1846 near Sault Ste. Marie. When they couldn't find him, they declared him dead as of July 6, 1846, the same day James Schoolcraft was shot. Another man, a Fort Brady solder named Lt. Bryan Tilden, made a deathbed confession that he had killed Schoolcraft over a love-triangle issue. (Tilden also confessed to murdering a Mexican storekeeper after stealing his liquor. Courtmartialed and sentenced to be hung, he was pardoned by a general who did not want to see an officer under his command disgraced.) Territorial Judge, Henry Schoolcraft, had proclaimed Tanner guilty without a trial, condemning him to death. Tanner knew he'd be lynched and fled to WI. His true identity was not known until I completed my research for my book about Chief Namakagon's "early" life. THE SECRET LIFE OF CHIEF NAMAKAGON is my 3rd novel about this amazing man. It follows two other books that feature his "later" life in Wisconsin. They are THE TREASURE OF NAMAKAGON and THE DEATH OF CHIEF NAMAKGON. Both are available at AMS and WMt but if you want a signed copy, go to my website, BadgerValley dot com where you can find more info including maps of the silver mining area where Namakagon's secret silver mine will one day be found. I can get you close, but you'll need to become the treasure hunter who finds the old fellow's mine! JB

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