In 1790 Waub-O-Jeeg took over from his elderly father, Chief Big Foot, and maintained the tribal supremacy of the Lake Superior Chippewas. That same year a young Irish trader John Johnston, later known as the "Irish Indian," came by canoe to Chequamegon Bay and spent the winter in a cabin on Madeline Island, then known as the Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker. He brought trade goods and made friends with Waub-O-Jeeg and tribal members and was present at the deathbed of Big Foot.