Oshkosh was named after the Menominee chief (1795-1858). The name means "claw" or "nail" or "horny part of foot of beasts or birds".  When Oshkosh was just a hamlet of a few scattered wooden houses, it was known by the classic name of Athens.

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Oshkosh, Wisconsin

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[Source: Card file at the WHS Library reference desk; p. 123 of Lawson's History of Winnebago county; Milwaukee Sentinel, Aug. 29, 1939.]