Antoine Grignon

Antoine Grignon (January 9, 1828 – July 23, 1913) was an American interpreter soldier, and fur trader of French, Dakota, and Ho-Chunk ancestry. Grignon served as an interpreter for many notable fur traders and Indian agents including Nathan Myrick, Alexis Bailly, Sylvanus Lowry, Henry Halleck, and Henry M. Rice. Grignon was the son-in-law of James Allen Reed, the founder of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin.

Early life Grignon was born on January 9, 1828 at Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin to a French and Ho-Chunk father, Amable Grignon, and a French-Dakota mother, Archange La Bathe. 129 Grignon's mother was the cousin of Wabasha III, a Dakota leader. Grignon's mother later married James Allen Reed, the founder of Trempealeau. Grignon's father Amable served as an interpreter for Zachary Taylor at Fort Crawford which is where Grignon was educated.

Military service At the outbreak of the Mexican–American War Grignon volunteered for service in the Wisconsin Volunteers in Governor Henry Dodge's home guards, the unit never left the state of Wisconsin. 132

Personal life Grignon was married in 1851 to Mary Christine de la Ronde, a French and Indigenous woman related to Waukon Decorah, together they had a total of 14 children, only 6 of which survived into adulthood. Grignon died on July 23, 1913 in Trempealeau.