Historic Indian Agency House Opening Celebration

The Historic Indian Agency House celebrates the traditional opening of their public season and their 83rd year of protecting and sharing Wisconsin’s rich history. The public is invited to attend and tour the house.

Opening Day Celebration to be held May 17

The Historic Indian Agency House and Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters will kick off the 2015 season with an Opening Day Celebration, to be held from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 17. Festivities will take place at the Historic Indian Agency House (HIAH) in Portage.

This year’s family-friendly event will include old-fashioned games such as "graces," "hoop and stick," and croquet. Grilled hot dogs, refreshments, and homemade pie will be available for purchase. Buildings and grounds will be open for tours, and visitors are encouraged to stroll along the adjacent Ice Age Trail and Portage Canal.

Author Kathe Crowley Conn will be on hand from noon until 2 p.m. to sign copies of her new book, "Juliette Kinzie: Frontier Storyteller." Kinzie moved with her husband, Indian Agent John Kinzie, to the HIAH in 1832. According to Crowley Conn, her book shares the "delights and challenges of travel and adjusting to new people and places, but also describes the war, hunger, and rapidly changing times Juliette witnessed on the Midwestern frontier."

"It follows the pioneering young woman through her own changes from socialite to pioneer to famous author," she says, "and even to the work of her granddaughter and namesake, Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts of the USA."

All proceeds from the Opening Day Celebration benefit the HIAH and Surgeons Quarters. The HIAH is owned and operated by the non-profit group The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Wisconsin. Surgeon’s Quarters is owned and run by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The event is funded in part by a grant from the Alliant Energy Foundation.

Through October 15, the HIAH will be open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. More information is available online at www.agencyhouse.org, or by calling (608) 742-6362.

Surgeons Quarters will be open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. through October 15. More information is available at www.fortwinnebagosurgeonsquarters.org, or by calling (608) 742-2949.