musicians won medals of excellence at state fairs. Dennison also heard the popular band music of John Philip Sousa at Wisconsin fairs. Locally, the Oneida Union Band and the Oneida National Band were prominent in community events and throughout the Midwest. Carlisle Indian School For more than 100 years, numerous Iroquois children, including Oneida, had been sent away from home to Christian schools for education. It was a tradition Wheelock likely heard about. Moor's Indian Charity School, now Dartmouth College, was founded in 1755 by Eleazar Wheelock, a Puritan minister. He established the school to train Native Americans as missionaries. Dennison's surname was adopted by an Oneida ancestor as a tribute to Wheelock.Hamilton-Oneida Academy, now Hamilton College, was a seminary founded in 1793 by Presbyterian Samuel Kirkland as part of his missionary work with the Oneida in New York State, their traditional territory. The Oneida people from Wisconsin and New York constituted one of the largest Indian nation's contingents at Carlisle Indian School. Only the Lakota, Chippewa and Seneca had more students enrolled. Between 1885 and 1917, more than 500 Oneida students attended Carlisle. In January 1884 at age 13, Wheelock wrote to Captain Richard Henry Pratt, Superintendent of the Carlisle Indian School, referring to his "limited musical education" and his musical awakening. In 1885, Wheelock enrolled in the Carlisle Indian School to study under Pratt. Dennison excelled in the classroom, and as a champion debater; he also was a fine tenor in the choir and cornetist extraordinaire in the band. In June 1890, Dennison graduated from Carlisle. He returned to Oneida, Wisconsin, where he started teaching and was appointed as a justice of the peace. But within a year, Wheelock returned to Carlisle. With Pratt's recommendation, he enrolled in the nearby Dickinson Preparatory School. Dickinson College provided Carlisle Indian students with access to college-level education through the Dickinson Preparatory School ("Conway Hall"). Only a select few of Carlisle students were recommended to this institution. Dennison attended Dickinson Preparatory school from 1891 to 1892. In 1892, Pratt appointed Wheelock as assistant clerk, working directly for him at the School. Later that year, Pratt appointed the young man as bandmaster, a position he would hold for more than eight years, until 1900. Music at Carlisle During the Progressive Era, from the late 19th century until the onset of World War I, Native American performers were major draws and money-makers. Millions of