Watseka or Watchekee was a Potawatomi

Potawatomi

The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...

 Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 woman, born in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, and named for the heroine of a Potawatomi legend. Her uncle was Tamin, the chief of the Kankakee Potawatomi

Potawatomi

The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...

 Indians.

In 1824 she married Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard

Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard

Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard was an American fur trader, insurance underwriter and land speculator. Hubbard first arrived in Chicago on October 1, 1818 as a voyageur...

. Hubbard and Watseka had two children, both of whom died in infancy. They mutually dissolved the union in 1826. Watseka eventually married Noel Le Vasseur

Noel Le Vasseur

Noel Le Vasseur was a trader and merchant born in St. Michel d`Yamaska, Canada and died in Bourbonnais Grove, Illinois....

. She had three children with Le Vasseur. In 1836, she left for Council Bluffs, Iowa

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...

, where her tribe had been removed in 1832 following the Treaty of Camp Tippecanoe. She died in Council Bluffs in 1878.

The United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 tug USS Watseka (YT-387)

USS Watseka (YT-387)

USS Watseka was a medium harbor tug of the YTM-192 class in the service of the United States Navy during World War II. She is one of the Naval vessels named for a woman. Watseka was a Potawatomi woman....

, and a city

Watseka, Illinois

Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S...

 in East Central Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

were named in her honor.