USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 2
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who shall say that they may not in some way have possessed a higher culture and a deeper acquaintance with arts and science, with the mys- teries of life and of creation, than do we.
Be that as it may, if they did exist they long since passed from the earth. Their earthly sor- rows and joys long since ceased to be and where they trod the hills, valleys and prairies of this fair county they were succeeded in an equally as transitory an occupation by the Indians, who, in turn, after years of hunting and warring, ram- bling over the pleasant dales and hills, bathing and fishing in the limpid waters of the lakes, de- parted hence, the silent footfalls of their moc- casined feet becoming less and less frequent un- til they were heard no more and left the land in loneliness to await the coming of the whites.
These pre-historic peoples have been named in this order: First, that race, who were the progenitors of the present Esquimaux; second, the Mound Builders, who have been variously credited to different epochs and to different races, one of them accredited as being the one who built the wonderful cliff dwellings in the arid regions of the southwestern North America, and of whom remains a feeble remnant in the Zuni
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tribes or Pueblo Indians; and the third, the American Indians.
S. W. Durant, in his valuable "History of Kalamazoo County," says: "Remains of gigantic labors are found among the copper regions of Lake Superior and the unknown races that worked the mines must have had a knowledge of naval architecture and navigation beyond any- thing which the subsequent Indian possessed, for we find that the copper deposits of Isle Royale were visited. This compelled a sea voyage of from fifteen to forty-five miles, the nearest part of Kewcenaw Point being nearly fifty miles away. The native copper was no doubt trans- ported to a more southern region to be trans- formed into the various implements which are to be found entombed with the human bones in the mounds of the vanished race."
In this connection we give an account of what may be the place where this material was manu- factured, the pre-historic occupation here de- scribed through a section of the Mississippi river valley in Missouri and extending further north and covering the sites of Rock Island and Mo- line. All of this extensive section of the Missis- sipi valley bears evidences of being an enor- mous manufactory, and when our civilization first dawned upon the land, remains of enormous canals, connecting the Mississippi river with va- rious of its tributaries, could be traced beneath a deep accumulation of the sedimentary soil brought down by the Mississippi during the enormous continuance of ages from the coun- tries of the north.
Below the mouth of the Missouri river, for some fifty or sixty miles, the Mississippi is bor - dered on the east by a rich alluvial plain, once the center, according to modern archeologists, of a large population of pre-historie inhabitants. These carly inhabitants built in this region, gen- erally known as the American bottom, a series of mounds that are still visible among the Caho- kia, the largest native earthwork in America, sit- uated not far from the city of St. Louis, and named in honor of the Cahokias, an extinct tribe of Indians. Although comparatively little can now be known about the history of this interest-
ing section, where the farmer's plow has already lowered and altered the shape of many of the mounds, the region is considered the richest in the country in possible future discoveries of arch- eological importance, and, in a recent publication of the Peabody Museum of American Archeol- ogy and Ethnology, D. I. Bushnell, Jr., has de- scribed the appearance of the group "as the mounds looked when first seen by European eyes ; their history, so far as it can be at present sur- mised, and the various objects that have already been unearthed in their vicinity. The large num. ber of unusually large mounds that stood on either side of the Mississippi, and the great quan - tity of pre-historie implements and utensils that have been discovered mark that region as an im- portant center of population of the prehistoric tribes of North America."
The Cahokia group of mounds stands near the center of the American Bottoms, about six miles distant from the Mississippi river, and just south of the Cahokia creek, a small waterway that may have easily served the original mound builders as a connecting link with the Mississippi. and with the far-spreading area of prehistoric North America. The main group, which sur- rounds the truncated rectangular pyramid of that giant Cahokia, which still rises several hun- dred feet above the original surface, includes some seventy-six mounds. Extending from this group, in a south of west direction, a chain of large mounds ends in a group of smaller ones near the Mississippi, and before St. Louis oc- cupied the site, some twenty or more mounds stood on the opposite bank.
Seven miles north of Cahokia stands a group of eleven mounds with several isolated earth- works not very far distant. Other smaller ele- vations have entirely disappeared under ages of cultivation. The great mound of Cahokia itself has been partly cultivated and is often spoken of as "Monk's Mound," in memory of the Trap- pist monks who planted their wheat on its sum- mit nearly a century ago. These monks, when the explorer Brakenbridge visited them in 18II, were living in several cabins located on one of these smaller elevations, probably the one im-
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mediately southwest of Cahokia. In referring to Cahokia itself, he says: "The step or apron has been used as a kitchen garden, and the top is sowed with wheat."
Taken as a whole, these remarkable artificial elevations are rectangular on conical in shape. Cahokia itself apparently consists of a series of high terraces, the area of the base being about sixteen acres. Regarding the name Cahokia, Prof. Putman, of the Harvard Peabody Museum, has said: "While there is not the slightest evidence that the Cahokias of the time of LaSalle were the builders of this and of the other mounds in the vicinity it is a gratification to be able to thus perpetuate the name of an extinct tribe of American Indians in connection with this monu- ment of an unknown American nation, rather than that of a religious order of foreign origin." These Cahokias were one of the two Illinois tribes (the other was the Tamaoas, who have left, so far as is yet known, no memorial whatever) frequently mentioned by early explorers of the Mississippi valley. They are now very much a part of the ancient history of North America. The site of an ancient village of Cahokias and Tamaoas, visited by Charlevoix in 1721 after the two tribes had been amalgamated. was prob- ably not very far from the present settlement which perpetuates the name of the former tribe ; and it is here that the party of Tamaoas taken to France in 1720 may have returned after their visit to the gay French capital and their presentation to royalty. In 1769 Pontiac was murdered near the same villiage.
Just why the mounds were built is an unan- swered and apparently unanswerable question, hardly more likely to be definitely settled than the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask of European history. The mounds were built, and the Man in the Iron Mask did inhabit the Bastile, and that is all that re- search, archeological or historical, has been able to find out about either. One theory concerning the mounds, says Mr. Bushnell, can be readily disposed of-they were not burial mounds. In seven mounds that have been opened on elevated ground, the finding of potheads, bits of chipped
chert, and the indication of fire, all on what ap- peared to have been the original surface, would point strongly to their having been remains of ruins of earth-covered lodges. Early explorers mention seeing such Indian lodges in different parts of the valley.
Mounds, however, that can be partly account- ed for on the theory that they are actually the re- mains of ruined dwellings-such dwellings as the traveler Tonti had in mind when he wrote in 1698: "I was surprised to see the grandeur of the village and the order of the cottages; they were placed in divers rows, being all made of · earth,"-are comparatively few in number. Many of the mounds were clearly erected as they now exist, possibly as elevated sites on which the build- ers erected their homes in the same manner as later the Trappist Monks utilized them as an ele- vated foundation for their cabins. Mounds of this class are found in vast numbers in certain sections of Missouri, more than eight hundred having been counted within an area of less than ten miles in one county. In another place in the eastern part of the state more than five hundred occur within a three-mile radius. If each of these mounds was once occupied by a separate habitation, they indicate therefore the presence of a very large prehistoric population centered in this part of North America.
In some of the smaller mounds, however, skeletons have been discovered, but not in such condition as to suggest that the mound was neces- sarily the original place of sepulchre. The bones had evidently been disturbed after their interment and in the immediate neighborhood fragments of pottery and indications of fire suggest rather the floor of a prehistoric home than the bottom of a tomb. Very few of the mounds have been care- fully investigated. What may be concealed under the surface of such a monumental pile of earth as Cahokia is therefore a tempting question for archeologists.
Kalamazoo county has several well defined mounds. The one that is in the most public place is that in Bronson Park at Kalamazoo city. It is a perfect circle, in solid contents, according to measurements made by the late Henry Little,
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containing three thousand nine hundred and nine ty-four feet with diameter at base of fifty-eight feet and a height of fifty-seven inches. Several excavations at different times in the last fifty years have revealed nothing concealed in its interior save a small amount of charcoal but, as in the early settlement a cellar was dug in the mound, what- ever was contained therein of the nature of relics was then probably taken out and destroyed. The mound was left in a much dilapidated condition m111til about 1850, when some of the appreciative citizens restored its form and it has since re- .mained as we see it today.
Two mounds on section 15 on Gull Prairie were early in evidence, but like many others, the ravages of civilization have taken them out of existence. On section 14 of the same town- ship were four mounds. Three of these were double the size of the first two, being fully forty feet in diameter. The fourth resembled the small- er ones, having a width of twenty feet. Exam- inations made in one of the larger mounds shows nothing but earth in its composition. In Cooper township human bones were found in a small mound on section 30. On section 16 in Cooper township the remains of three earthworks or sup- posed fortifications existed, from which many human bones were taken by the early settlers. Another mound was situated on the east side of the river.
In Comstock township, in section 22, on an island in the Kalamazoo river, was a large mound, diamond shaped, twenty feet high and covering over an acre. In 1831 a maple tree, thirty inches in diameter, was growing thereon. On section 13 in Comstock township was a circular mound, twenty-five feet in diameter, only raised from the surrounding ground by about thirty inches.
A small mound on section 30, in Pavilion, on the shore of Long lake, was opened in 1876, in which were found two human skeletons. The mound seemed to have been built over and around the bodies, and to have been once surrounded by a ditch. An oak tree, eighteen inches in diameter, was growing on this mound when it was first seen by the settlers.
Mr. Little is authority for the statement that when the first white people came to the town of Climax a mound, to which the appellation of "Old Fort" was given, was to be seen on Climax prairie, its size being about two-thirds that of the Kalamazoo mound. North of this mound, in the edge of the timber land and on top of an elevation, was a circular work including somewhat less than two acres of land. This contained both a parapet and a ditch, the latter having a width of from sixteen to twenty feet and a depth of from two to three feet. This enclosure when first seen by the pioneers was covered by large trees. Other mounds existed in Climax and a similar "fort," but smaller, stood on section 1. This looked much like a circus ring.
About a mile west of the "old fort" were a number of these strange "garden beds," cover- ing several acres. These beds were from six to eight feet wide and from two to ten rods long. The paths between them were from six to eight inches deep and from one to three feet wide. The beds were irregular in shape and size. A still larger number of these beds were found less than a mile east of the "old fort." These lay in dif- ferent angles with each other, as if cultivated by these people. The antiquity of these "beds" is a mooted question. They are found in many parts of not only this county, but this state, and in some instances covered the ancient mounds, sug- gesting that they were made by a later race than the Mound Builders.
Henry Little says that in the early days of set- tlement they covered fully ten acres south of the Kalamazoo mound. Among these were some of wheel form. In Schoolcraft, especially on section 7, were many acres of these "gardens.“ Fully one hundred were seen counted on a mile square. They were also seen on Prairie Ronde, on To- land's prairie and in various places not hereto- fore enumerated. The size greatly varied, some including three hundred acres, others being only four or five acres in extent. An exhaustive article on these beds, with numerous illustrations, con- tributed by Bela Hubbard. Esq., appeared in the American Antiquarian of April. 1878. These
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
beds were of various forms, rectangular, triangu- lar, elliptical, circular or wheel-shaped, and com- plex, evincing, in many instances, mechanical skill and cultivated taste. Many of those found in this county were laid out as regular parallelograms.
Indian occupancy was succeeded by the new era, that of civilized possession. When the few first pioneers looked on this land it was not the landscape of today that they beheld. Although in its peculiar wild and virgin aspect it was wonder- fully attractive, still a dense and tangled jungle of heavy cedars, tamaracks and cypress, mingled with maples, elms, oaks, walnuts and other ever- green and deciduous trees, covered much of the ground, which, water-soaked and fungus-bearing. was much like a marsh, even where extensive swamps did not exist. . The rivers and creeks. choked by fallen and rotting logs and the debris of ages, moved languidly in their beds, while smalled streams, dry or scarcely discernible, kept sinuous courses through the extended marshes and forests, and furnished homes for thousands of finny inhabitants, the watery surface being made much more extensive by the numerous dams made by the plentiful beaver.
The oak openings and ridge lands presented another aspect. John T. Blois writes of it in his very admirable "Gazetteer of Michigan," pub- lished in 1838: "To the traveler the country pre- sents an appearance eminently picturesque and de- lightful. In a considerable portion the surface of the ground is so even and free from under- brush as to admit of carriages being driven through the uncultivated woodlands and plains with the same facility as over the prairie or the common road. The towering forest and grove. the luxuriant prairie, the crystal lake and limpid rivulet are so frequently and happily blended as to confer additional charms to the high finishing of a landscape whose beauty is probably unriv- aled by any section of country."
The occupation of Kalamazoo county before the coming of the whites has left little signs of its existence. Whatever prehistoric peoples may have rambled along its pleasant hillsides or bathed in the limpid waters of its lakes, they departed hence and left no traces except the mounds and gardens
heretofore mentioned. The thrilling events of border warfare and of Indian atrocities recorded no deed of bloodshed on this fair land. Tecum- seh, Pontiac and other valiant and historic Indian chiefs concocted their dark designs against the whites in other places, by other streams, and the Indian history of this section is largely one great blank. Bands of warriors going to slaughter and destroy, or returning home from savage forays, no doubt traversed the great trail crossing the county. Perhaps disconsolate captives were also hurried along its winding way, but no record has been made and the tongues that might tell were generations ago palsied by death.
In the construction of this great Indian trail that led across the state from one great lake to another, and also in its branches, the red men avoided the larger marshes, kept on the highest attainable ground and crossed the streams at the best natural fording places. The wild grasses grew with great luxuriance on every kind of ground. The blue joint of the prairies attained a height of five or six feet, and the luxuriant wire- grass and redtop grew in great abundance on both openings and prairies, while immense expanses of wild rye, standing from six to eight feet in height, afforded a pleasant sight to the new comer. All of these were nutritious, and the cattle brought from the East had ample provision supplied by na- ture in great abundance. The ground, especially that of the prairies, was literally covered with a profusion of wild flowers of every conceivable hue-crimson, purple, violet, orange, vellow. white, etc.
Another attraction to the pioneer was the pure, clear water. plentifully found in all parts of the county. The lands being equally well adapted to tillage and grazing, would please all classes of agriculturists. Deer were here in abundance, and other wild animals gave zest to the pioneer's quest for hunting. The streams, lakes and marshes were inhabited in great numbers by beavers, otter, mink and other fur-bearing animals, whose soft coats were readily exchangeable for "store-goods" needed in the pioneer home.
Squirrels, black and gray, and of other varie- ties, were everywhere. Enormous flocks of wild
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geese, ducks and swans ruffled the waters of the lakes and ponds, while the wild turkey, the crane, the partridge, the quail, woodcock, snipe, prairie hen and wild pigeon furnished not only sport to the hunter, but most delicious additions to the primitive larders. It is probable that at this time no other portion of the Union possessed so many waterfowls or could furnish so many or varied attractions to sportsmen.
"Every kind of wild fruit which is, and some kinds that are not only lavished in superior abun- dance, but sometimes in superior quality," is the way an early settler wrote of the attractions to the pioneer in that direction. Cranberries were so plentiful in the open, water-covered marshes as often to make them appear in the fall like great red fields.
When these advantages were known to the people in the Eastern states, it is no wonder that a great tide of immigration set in. For at least the third time a new race was taking "seizin" of the soil. The Indians roamed here and traveled to and fro on their mysterious way for many successive generations. The demoralized rem- nants of a once powerful tribe had been sent to the West, leaving a few, faint, fast-disappearing tokens of their nomadic life. In this particular portion of the state the preceding races left few signs and slight evidences of occupancy, but they were here. They lived, loved, warred, fulfilled their destiny and passed away.
The Indian here next existed, fulfilled his des- tiny, and he, too, has gone. Will the record of the third, the Caucasian race, in the time to come, be that of the others? In the early swarming hither of the pioneers there seems no possibility of such an accomplishment. As we look today in the opening years of the twentieth century, at Kala- mazoo county in its magnificent state of com- pleted civilization and high intellectual standing. the thought of such a passing away seems the airy nothing of an airy dream, nevertheless, two races at least have thus passed away. What will be the destiny of the third ?
Every fable has a moral, and all history should have. There are many lessons to be learned, even in the changes of events in Kala-
mazoo county during the years that have passed since hither came the forerunner of the long con- course of westward emigration which here found abiding homes. They are not lessons peculiar to this soil, but such lessons as our common hu- manity everywhere teaches us. It is the solemn one that men do not bear prosperity ; that power and capacity for achievement come only from the toil and discipline of sorrow; that men of one generation become strong, and make life too easy for the next.
In many cases in this county we have seen the sturdy pioneer come to the annual fairs with his cereals, his flocks and his herds. His children appear in their day with fast horses and costly equipage, while the third generation is seen com- ing on foot, empty-handed and hopeless, the fam- ily name being no longer upon the tongues of men. While this has been going on, toiling boys, denied opportunities, have been working their way frugally and with untiring industry to opu- lence and place, to curse their posterity with too much unearned wealth.
In physical progress since the surveyor's chain first gave the settlers freedom to here ac- quire a home, the dreams of the poet have been surpassed. The achievements of six hundred years have been cumulative and multiplied, or the tree taking root in all the centuries, fed by the toil, endurance and suffering of all, has at last suddenly blossomed and borne fruit.
How hopeless was the pioneer in the flower- covered wilderness, but his descendants are now' citizens of the world, sharers in all of its lux- ury and glory. All continents and all seas min- ister unto them. It took long months for the pio- neers to hear from across the sea, yes, even from their old homes in the East ; now the world's his- tory of each day is read at every fireside of the continent on the day of its occurrence. For years a few horseback carriers conveyed all the mail coming to this county and going past into the further West. Now the almost hourly railroad trains transport tons of mail daily.
If the great object of life was splendid struc- tures, the multiplication and diffusion of lux- uries, well might men rejoice, but the solemn
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
question, here and elsewhere, is whether these things, representing temporal riches, are making men better or happier. Every continent is strewn with the voiceless wreck of the works of men's hands and with graves. Nationalities and lan- guages have disappeared. This has not come from convulsions of nature, but from the degen- eracy engendered by prosperity.
In this very territory, as told before, are relics of the Mound Builders. The pioneer planted with hope above their warning graves, while ad- dresses and political speeches have often been pronounced from platforms erected on the mound in Bronson Park. The same natural, moral and social laws that gave them life and wrought destruction of these ancient residents should re- mind us that there is no exemption from social corruption. The greatest trouble of the civili- zation of today is the power of monopolies, the restlessness of labor, the wildness of the scramble for gold, the violence and blindness of party spirit, the passivity of the average citizen and the character of the politicians, who look to their own interests and forget their country.
The safety of the land lies in our intelligent agricultural population cherishing with wise con- servatism the good of the past and valuing their homes as to make them ever loyal patriots in the lines of national honor. The republic founded in this new land of freedom by the Revolutionary patriots can not last long without the stability of an agricultural interest, which can and will hold the balance of power and cry "Halt!" whenever the hosts of corruption seem marching the land to political ruin.
One successful demagogue, reeking with cor- ruption, yet elevated to place, followed by popular applause and worshiped for successful stealing, while virtue is ridiculed and a drug upon the market, will do more to demoralize young men than the example of a thousand saintly lives can do to lead them to a better life. All history warns us that Nature has not among its possi- bilities greater woe than yet may come to Kala- mazoo county, if its citizens forget God and his laws. No matter what fields may be reclaimed, what temples may be reared, what magnificent
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