Little Lake Butte des Morts is a lake in the state of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, USA, eight miles north of Lake Butte Des Morts

Lake Butte des Morts

Big Lake Butte des Morts is an lake located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and is part of the Winnebago Pool . The lake is fed by the Fox River in the southwest and the Wolf River draining from Lake Winneconne in the northwest, and drains via the Fox River southeast into Lake Winnebago...

. It is part of the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway

Fox-Wisconsin Waterway

The Fox–Wisconsin Waterway is a waterway formed by the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. First used by European settlers in 1673 during the expedition of Marquette & Joliet, it was one of the principal routes used by travelers between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River until the completion of the...

 and receives its inflow from a short segment of the Fox River

Fox River (Wisconsin)

The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities...

 which drains from the north end of Lake Winnebago around Doty Island. The north end of Little Lake Butte des Morts becomes the section of the Fox River running to Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

. The lake is part of the Butte des Morts

Butte des Morts

Butte Des Morts is a region of northeastern Wisconsin, in Winnebago County, containing two known lakes: Little Lake Butte des Morts, and Lake Butte des Morts. Little Lake Butte des Morts lies between the Menasha region from the town of Menasha, while Big Lake Butte des Morts lies in the northwest...

 region in Winnebago County, Wisconsin

Winnebago County, Wisconsin

Winnebago County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2009, the population estimate was 163,370. Its county seat is Oshkosh. Winnebago County is included in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Neenah, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

. The southern half of the lake is located within the cities of Menasha

Menasha, Wisconsin

Menasha is a city in Calumet and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,331 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly in the Town of Menasha in Winnebago County; only a small portion is in the Town of Harrison in Calumet County. Doty Island is located...

 and Neenah

Neenah, Wisconsin

Neenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...

.

The name "Butte des Morts" was given by French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 settlers, and means "Hill of the Dead" in reference to a nearby Indian

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 burial mound

Tumulus

A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

. French archives state that in 1716, over 8000 civilians and over 500 soldiers lived within the fortified walls of Little Lake Butte des Morts. In 1716, during the Fox Wars

Fox Wars

The Fox Wars were two 18th-century wars between the Fox Indians and the French , which occurred in territories that are now the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, U.S.A.. The First Fox War broke out with the French when the Fox numbered some 3,500. After the Second Fox War , the remaining 1,500...

, French expeditionary forces laid siege to the fort, in the battle of the Siege of Little Butte des Mortes

Siege of Little Butte des Mortes

The Siege of Little Butte des Morts was a battle fought during the Fox Wars, in Wisconsin, and Michigan. The battle was fought at Little Lake Butte des Morts, in what is now Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in 1716. At the time, the Fox had a massive stronghold at Butte Des Mortes, with possibly...

, and massacred most of the inhabitants. Similar events occurred in another siege in 1730.