MESKO- WHAT?

People see the word "Meskousing" and can't help wonder what it means or what it is.  Meskousing was the word written in Father Jacques Marquette's journal.  He wrote in his journal in June 1673, "The river on which we embarked is called Meskousing. It is very wide; it has a sandy bottom, which forms various shoals that render its navigation very difficult. It is full of islands covered with vines."  The river he is referring to is what is now called the Wisconsin River.  He first accessed the river at modern day Portage, WI.  When he heard the name, he was camping with the Miami (from Indiana) tribe.  Native American languages are purely oral and do not have a written alphabet, so Marquette was trying to capture the sound he was hearing and translate it into French.  

Meskousing was written other ways by other travelers.  Eventually the word morphed into Ouisconsing and later Wisconsin.  The Wisconsin River has at times been referred to as "The River of a 1000 isles," based upon an erroneous interpration of the meaning of Meskousing.  The now accepted meaning of Meskousing is "stream that meanders through someplace red."  There are red sandstone cliffs on the lower Wisconsin River and is likely what is referenced in the meaning.  For a more detailed explanation, feel free to visit the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Your guess is as good as mine in regards to how Meskousing is pronounced.  The last native Miami speakers died in the 1960's.  I've pronounced it several ways myself.  Given the transformation the written word has undergone, it only seems fitting that the pronunciation evolve, too.

I chose the name Meskousing Boats for a variety of reasons.  First, we are a product made in Wisconsin and proud of that.  I'm also a bit of a history buff and believe we need to know where we came from to know where we're going.  The journey of starting a business and creating a product has been a journey involving a lot of inlets, islands, channels, and shoals making navigation challenging.

Take a kid harvesting!