USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 3
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The result of this visit was that Mr. Schoolcraft was ordered to call a meeting at Flint, for the purpose of concluding the treaty, which was done. It was during this visit that President Jefferson presented O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to with the colonel's uniform, in which he was buried, as described in the reminiscence concerning him.
After 1837 the original proprietors of the soil in the valley gradu- ally decreased in number. Many went to the reservation at Isabella, and death thinned their ranks. Nau-qua-chic-a-me, the chief of the Chippewas, after the death of his father finally took his band to Bau-gan-ing, and there died in October, 1874. James Cloud, the Indian clergyman of Indiantown, on the Kawkawlin River, has been pastor there for fifteen years, receiving barely nothing for his labors. Fifteen years ago, he says, there were as many as 1,600 Indians
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
in the Saginaw Valley, while now there are scarcely 900 in the aggregate.
REMINISCENCE OF O-GE-MA-KE-GA-TO.
The following interesting reminiscence is taken from the Bay City Tribune, of August 15, 1877 :- "The discovery of the remains of the celebrated Chippewa chieftain, O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, was noted in the Tribune of Thursday last. On Sunday afternoon we visited the residence of William R. McCormick, and took a look at the skeleton of one of the most noted Indian characters of his day. There are a number of residents of this city who well remember the chief, and many reminiscences have been related to us since the publication of the item on Thursday last. Mr. McCormick knew him well, also Judge Albert Miller, of this city. The former says there were no bounds to his eloquence. He heard him speak (some forty years ago) for two hours to a gathering of 1,000 Indians on the Flint River, and during all that time his hearers sat apparently spell-bound. At the time Gen. Cass was negotiating the treaty of 1819 O-ge-ma- ke-ga-to, although only twenty-five years of age, was head chief of the Chippewa nation, and as such was
THE CENTRAL INDIAN FIGURE
at the council. He was over six feet in height, and in his bearing graceful and handsome; and although in the later years of his life he was often seen intoxicated, he never fully lost a look of conscious dignity which belonged to his nature as one of the original lords of the soil. In true eloquence he was probably hardly surpassed by the Seneca chief, Red Jacket. His band lived at the forks of the Tittabawassee, and like Red Jacket he wore upon his breast a superb government medal.
THIS MEDAL
was of an oblong shape, fully five inches in length and one quarter of an inch thick, and was composed of pure silver. On one side was the figure of an Indian chief in full dress, and on the other what was intended to represent the president of the United States, with the following inscription :- 'Presented to O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to by Thomas Jefferson.'"
THE TREATY OF 1819
was a very important one, as this portion of the state was then in Indian possession, and the object of the government was the ces- sion by the natives of the vast tract in which was included the rich and flourishing valleys of the Saginaw and its tributaries. The chief speaker for the Indians was O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, and he opposed the proposition of Gen. Cass, with indignation. Said he :
" You do not know our wishes. Our people wonder what has brought you so far from your homes. Your young men have invited · us to come and light the council fire; we are here to smoke the pipe of peace, but not to sell our lands. Our American father wants them. Our English father treats us better. He has never asked for them. You flock to our shores; our waters grow warm; our lands melt like a cake of ice; our possessions grow smaller and smaller. The warm wave of the white man rolls in upon us and melts us away. Our women reproach us; our children want homes. Shall we sell from under them the spot where they spread their blankets? We have not called you here; we smoke with you the pipe of peace."
The treaty was finally made, and the Indians returned to their lodges.
The Chippewa nation was then comprised of ten or twelve bands, each governed by a hereditary chieftain. These chiefs formed a council which governed the nation and elected the ruling chief annually. O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to was not a chief by blood, but his remarkable intellectual qualities, as well as his undaunted courage, made him a power among his dusky people, and at the early age of twenty-five he was the leading spirit. Gen. Cass was
surprised at the remarkable brain power of the man, and remarked that he was " the smartest and most eloquent Indian he had ever met." His administration of the affairs of his people was so sat- isfactory that for over
THIRTY CONSECUTIVE YEARS
he was annually re-elected to the position of head chief. He never ruled a single band until in the later years of his life, when he be- came chief of the Tittabawassee band, to which he belonged.
His power of oratory made him a great favorite with his peo- ple, and the fame of O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to spread far and wide. Sub- sequently, at the ratifying of the reservation treaty, at Detroit, many learned and able lawyers were present, not one of whom, after hear- ing his great speech interpreted, dared to accept his challenge to discuss the questions affecting the Indians' welfare with him.
After the treaty of Saginaw had been ratified and the Indians had become reconciled to the encroachment of the white man, O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to was quite friendly, and like an honorable man endeavored to fulfill his obligations to the new comers under the treaty.
MANY ASTOUNDING STORIES
are told by the old settlers regarding his bravery and fortitude, some of which surpass belief. Mr. McCormick says that about 1835 two members of the Tittabawassee band had a disagreement while under the influence of liquor, and drew their knives for a settlement of the difficulty, according to the aboriginal code. O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, who was standing near them, immediately jumped between the com- batants and received a knife thrust in his side. The cut was so large and deep that a portion of his liver protruded, and in this condition he lay for several days. One afternoon he took a knife laying by his side, and in the presence of several Indians, sliced off a portion of his own liver, threw the piece on the coals and roasted it, and then ate it. Turning to those present, he said :- " If there is a braver man in the Chippewa Nation than I am, I should like to see him."
This story, incredible as it is, Mr. McCormick says can be well attested by Joseph Trombley, E. S. Williams, of Flint, and Peter Grewett, now of Gratiot County, all of whom were Indian traders at that time. Judge Albert Miller, now of Bay City, also recollects the circumstance at the time.
As we have stated, O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to ruled the Chippewas until 1839 or 1840, when death stepped in and robbed the dusky nation of its wisest, most eloquent and bravest member.
HE DIED AT SALZBURG,
and was buried in the mound in front of Mr. McCormick's residence. At that time lumber was scarce in the Saginaw Valley, and a board was of more value then than now. Joseph Trombley was building the Center House, yet standing on the corner of Twenty-fourth and Water Streets, the lumber for which was all brought from Detroit. Mr. Trombley liked the old chief, and made the family a present of a single board, out of which was constructed a rough box coffin, and the burial took place with more pomp and splendor than had pre- viously fallen to the lot of an Indian corpse.
HIS GRAVE WAS MARKED
in after years, when lumber became more plenty and consequently cheaper, by erecting over it a small wooden house, surmounted by a flag staff. As the years rolled by this grave cover became dilapi- dated, and finally Mr. Thomas Stevenson, who built his house close by, obliterated it entirely. When he was buried there was nothing but an Indian trail along the bank, and after the little house was torn down all trace of the grave was lost, and as the land became tilled it was plowed over.
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
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Search had been made for the last two or three years to find it, by Mr. McCormick and others, but always unsuccessfully. Its acci- dental discovery while digging a cellar, has revived memories of the old aboriginal monarch, and many persons have visited Mr. McCormick's residence to interview him upon the subject.
The coffin was badly decayed,-nothing remaining but a few pine knots. The colonel's uniform, presented to him by the Presi- dent of the United States, and in which he was buried, was found to be in a remarkable state of preservation. It was by this uniform that the remains were identified as being those of the noted chief. His little kettle was bottomless and badly demoralized by rust, and the medal was not to be found; but his tomahawk, knives, pipes, etc., were by his side.
The remains were taken possession of by the man who was · digging the cellar, and kept by him on exhibition for some time. His descendants, and other Indians in the vicinity, were much in- censed at what they regarded as an indignity to a great man, and requested Mr. McCormick to take possession of the remains and have them decently buried. Mr. McCormick, who talked their lan- guage fluently, complied with their request, and buried the remains in his own door yard. Mr. E. B. Denison, of Bay City, has pre- sented him with a stone which marks the last resting-place of the once noted chief of the Chippewas.
INDIAN STOICISM AND COURAGE.
BY W. R. Mc CORMICK.
For the particulars of the following tragic story I am indebted to Hon. E. S. Williams. It occurred while he was trading with the Indians at Saginaw, some time before De Tocqueville's visit, and about two years before I came to the Saginaw Valley. The event was witnessed by Messrs. Williams, Judge Jewett, Colonel Stanard, and others, and strangely illustrates the peculiarities of frontier life and of the Indian character.
Neh-way-go was a young Saginaw brave, living, in his earlier life, at Green Point, which is at the mouth of the Tittabawassee River, and in his later years upon the shores of the Saginaw Bay. He is described as a model of native strength and grace. While living at the former place he killed a son of Red Bird, who lived on the Tittabawassee River. The relatives demanded satisfaction, and by Indian laws his life was the forfeit. He presented himself at the chief mourner's wigwam, where the warriors of the family of the deceased had assembled, and informed them that he had come for them to strike at his heart. He bared his bosom and took his posi- tion for the selected number to pass by him and inflict the knife wound. They passed and inflicted, as they hoped, the mortal thrusts. That done, and Indian usage being satisfied, he was making the best speed he could, with his streaming wounds, to his own wigwam, when he was struck in the back by a cowardly Indian, inflicting a severe stab, but, as it appears, like the other blows, not fatal. He was yet enabled to reach his own wigwam, some distance off, where his young wife was waiting, not expecting ever to see him alive again. She received him and bound up his wounds. He was re- stored after fearful suffering.
After this event he removed to Kawkawlin, where he remained until his wounds were nearly healed. When he came up to Sagi- naw in a canoe, with his wife, to do some trading at the Indian trading post of the American Fur Company, which was then operated by G. D. and E. S. Williams, he was not yet able to get out of his canoe and go to the trading post, which was but a few rods from the river, without the aid of his paddle to lean upon.
B. O. Williams, who was there at the time, describes him as a walking skeleton.
Some Indians were there at the time. They soon sent word to O-sou-wah-bon's band at Green Point, some two miles distant, that Neh-way-go had arrived at the American Fur Company's trading post. The Messrs. Williams were well aware that if they met there would be a dreadful tragedy. They therefore placed persons to watch if any Indians came from that direction. It was not long be- fore O-sou-wah-bon and two Indians were seen approaching, while Neh-way-go was still by his canoe standing on the bank of the river leaning on his paddle. He was told by the Messrs. Williams to get into the canoe with his family and go down the river. This he refused to do, saying he was no coward, but like a brave man pa- tiently awaited the attack. E. S. Williams went and met O-sou- wah-bon and told him he must go into the store, as he wanted to see him. After he was inside the door was closed and he was told that they knew his business and that he must now give up his knives. He reluctantly drew his knife from his sheath and handed it to B. 0. Williams. They asked him if he had any more, and if so to give them up or they would search him. He finally pulled out another which he had concealed down his back. They then asked him if he had any more. He said "No," when E. S. Williams said they would have to search him, which he refused to submit to. Mr. Williams clinched him, and with the assistance of B. O. Williams, now of Owosso, and some others, after a severe struggle, as O-sou- wah-bon was a very powerful man, they threw him on the floor. While B. O. Williams and some others were holding him, E. S. Williams commenced the search, and inside of his leggin they found a large knife, a very formidable weapon, and as sharp as a razor. When Mr. Williams drew it from his leggin he caught it by the blade and refused to give it up; the result was, before they could wrench it from his grasp it had nearly severed his hand in two. They then let him up and dressed his wound. While this proceed- ing was going on B. O. Williams and another person slipped out of the back door and found Neh-way-go still standing on the shore lean- ing on his paddle, awaiting the attack, while his wife was sitting in the canoe crying. They told him to get into his canoe and be off, which he refused to do, repeating he was no coward. They then took him by main force, put him into the canoe with his wife, and shoved it from the shore and ordered his wife to paddle him home, and not to come back again. He returned to his home on the Kawkawlin, where he soon after fully recovered from his wounds.
Afterwards, finding upon his hunting ground the coward who had inflicted upon him the wound in the back, he summarily visited him with Indian vengeance,-death. Soon after the Indians were assembled in large numbers at Saginaw at an Indian payment, when an altercation ensued between Black Beaver, an Indian of consider- able note, and the brave Neh-way-go. The former reproached him with the outrage he had committed upon the Indian who had struck him in the back. Neh-way-go defended the act as just and brave; the reproof was repeated, and upon the instant he slew Black Beaver.
This was at the upper end, where the city of East Saginaw stands, near where the upper bridge crosses the river, in the vicinity of the old Curtis-Emerson mill. Black Beaver and his band were here encamped. On the west side of the river, on the open plain near where the residence of E. J. Ring now stands, Neh-way-go and his band were encamped.
After the bloody deed Neh-way-go crossed over to the west side of the river amongst his own people. A warrant was at once issued by Colonel Stanard for his arrest, acting as justice. Neh-way-go fled back to the east side of the river, and, accompanied by a friend, secreted himself in the woods upon what is now the site of the city of East Saginaw. He preferred to trust himself on the same side of
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
14
the river with the tribe whose leading warrior he had stricken down than to endure the mortification of arrest and punishment of the white man's laws.
He sent word to two of his white friends, Antoine Campau and Ephraim S. Williams, desiring them to cross the river and come to the woods in which he was secreted, when by giving a signal he would come to them. They did so and he soon made his appearance. He informed them that he had sent for them for advice; that the white man's punishment (imprisonment) was only fit for cowards; death by the hands of his own race was glorious in comparison, if any relative of Black Beaver should choose to make it a cause for vengeance.
They advised him to cross back to his own camp, present him- self to his people and let the affair take the course warranted by Indian usage. The arrest by the officer was waived and he pre- sented himself at his own camp openly.
The hour for the burial of Black Beaver arrived. An immense number of Indians, from two to three thousand, were present-as it was Indian payment at Saginaw at the time-as mourners and spec- tators. The place of burial was just below the old Campau house on the brow of the hill, west of where A. W. Wright's planing mill now stands and near where Neh-way-go and his band were en- camped. The body had been placed in the coffin. The relatives, witlı their faces streaked with black, had gathered about it. The few white settlers then in the valley were all there as spectators. The fearful outrage so near their own doors had absorbed and engrossed the attention of all.
While the solemn Indian rite was in progress over the remains of their favorite warrior, Neh-way-go was seen approaching from his camping ground. He was dressed in full and careful costume, tomahawk and knife in his girdle and a small canteen of whisky at his side, his whole appearance imposing and gallant. He made his way with a lofty and majestic step to the center of the mourn- ing group. Walking with a measured step to the side of the coffin, he placed upon it his tomahawk and knife. He filled his calumet with kinakanick, composedly and with dignity. After smoking from it himself first, he passed it to the chief mourner, who declined it. He passed it to the next, and the next, with the same result. He passed his canteen of whisky with the same formality, and with the same result. They declined to partake.
He then undid the collar of his hunting shirt, and bared his bosom, seating himself with calm dignity upon the foot of the coffin. He turned his face full upon the chief mourners, and addressed them :
"You refuse my pipe of peace. You refuse to drink with me. Strike not in the back. Strike not and miss. The man that does dies when I meet him on our hunting ground."
Not a hand was raised. Upon the dark and stoical faces of that cloud of enemies by whom he was surrounded, no feeling found ex- pression except that of awe; no muscle moved.
He rose from his seat on the foot of the coffin, and towering to his full, fine height, exclaimed, "Cowards! Cowards! Cowards!"
As composedly as he had taken them out, he restored, unmolest- ed, the tomahawk and knife to his girdle, and, with his canteen at his side, walked away from the strange scene as lordly as he came. He had awed his enemies, and was evidently master of the situation,
Removing soon after to the bay shore, away from the scene of his early feuds and fearful exploits, he fell ultimately upon the hunt- ing ground in a personal encounter with a relative of one of his vic- tims.
EARLY TRADERS AND FIRST RESIDENTS.
The Saginaw River was visited by white men, long before any lodgment was made within the present limits of Bay County. In
1792, a grandfather of Joseph Trombley, of West Bay City, and Medor Trombley, of South Bay City, was a trader along these shores, and became a victim at the hands of the Indians. He was a goldsmith by trade, and made silver medals and ornaments for them, and also worked at various other trades. He built two small vessels for coasting in, as he carried a small stock of goods which he bartered for furs and game. He is said to have perished under the following circumstances :- Having made a muskrat spear for an Indian, who thought it was not quite as good as one previously made for another Indian, a quarrel ensued, during which the spear- maker was stabbed in the back, and had to take to one of his boats, in which he set sail for Detroit. On his way there he fell or was knocked overboard, being wounded and weak, and was drowned. After he was gone the Indians destroyed his remaining vessel, which was on the stocks uncompleted, and made way with his - effects.
Gassette Trombley, an uncle of Joseph and Medor Trombley, was also a trader here, about the same time, and was at one time " Indian farmer." An Indian farmer was one employed by the government to teach Indians how to cultivate their land. This was more than fifty years ago, and yet, even to this day, Indians as a class are but indifferent farmers.
Jacob Graverot, sometimes called "Old Grave-rod," was an- other trader in the valley. Some have named him as being the first white settler in Bay County, but the statement is not correct. His wife was said to be a daughter of a chief called Kish-kan-ko. They roamed over the valley, planting their wigwam wherever there was a favorable place for hunting, fishing or trading with the In- dians. He was a well known character to every one who came into the valley while he lived. During the latter portion of his life he had charge of an Indian trading post at the " Forks," established by the American Fur Company. He was then a very old man and claimed to have been a trader for John Jacob Astor, in the early days of Astor's business as a fur trader. He was of Dutch descent, and many amusing stories used to be told of his sayings in broken English. One is related of his being in a court of justice, where information was desired from a letter he had formerly writ- ten. The lawyers tried in vain to decipher its contents, and passed it to him to read. " Me read it," he said, " how do you suppose I can read it if you learned lawyers can't make it out?" At another time he was railing against the half-breeds, in the presence of two respectable persons of that class, and not wishing to be personal in his remarks, attempted to explain by saying, "I don't mean you, Charley, nor you, Pete, but I mean de whole lot of you." That, of course, made plain the rule of exception that applies to "present company." This last anecdote has been harnessed to nearly every eccentric individual who has lived in this region during the past fifty years, but Graverot was the real author of it. Upon this fact we have the testimony of Judge Miller, who was present and heard him utter it.
In 1829 Joseph Trombley was along the Saginaw River from Saginaw City to the bay, in pursuit of land, but being told that he could not locate any land near the mouth of the river, as it was an Indian reservation, he went away, butreturned again a few years later.
One Masho, a Frenchman, who had married a lass of the for- est, had a log cabin where the Wooden Ware Works now stand int South Bay City, along in 1831-'32. He was also a trader.
FIRST RESIDENTS OF BAY COUNTY.
Who the first settler of any given locality may have been, is not of itself a matter of material or historic value, that the question should be determined with exactness. But there is a natural curi-
L.I.
LEI
The Old MC Cormick _Residence. _ Cor24 & Water Sts. Bay City. FIRST FRAME HOUSE IN BAY CO. BUILT 1836.
RES. OF W. R. MC CORMICK ESQ. BAY CITY _ 107 MC CORMICK ST.
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
osity, not to be despised,-a fondness for reminiscence and things associated with early days-that causes characters and events to be rescued out of the past and transmitted to posterity.
Divesting history of its romance, we have revealed the proces- sion of events, headed by the missionaries who have penetrated the waste places upon some errand that is designed to result in benefit to the world, whether it be to humanize the savage, or to discover some new field for the advantageous exercise of human industry or genius. Then follow the elements that combine to develop and utilize resources hitherto untouched, and to plant centers of busi- ness. It is of no credit to any man that he was a pioneer, unless his axe was laid at the root of some tree, or his shoulder put to some wheel to aid the labored movements of struggling progress.
The first person to settle and reside permanently within the present limits of Bay County, was Leon Trombley, an uncle of Joseph and Medor Trombley, and father of Mrs. P. J. Perrott and Louis Leon Trombley, of Bay City. He came early iu 1831 and erected a small log house on the bank of the river at a point now about the middle of Water Street, and just south of Fourth Street. About half an acre of ground was cleared for an Indian camp ground, and for a garden. Mr. 'T'rombley was the professional agriculturist employed by the government to instruct the Indians in the practi- cal science of raising corn instead of scalps, and of becoming "horny-handed sons of toil." After he had built his house and cleared his half acre he planted a patch of potatoes in order to have some for his next Winter's supply at hand. On leaving for Detroit, where his family lived, he made arrangements with an Indian and his squaw to hoe and take care of his potatoes through the Summer of 1831. In the Fall, on arriving at his house with his family, Mr. Trombley discovered, to his astonishment and great disappointment, that the potatoes had not been hoed or cultivated at all, and mourned over the instability of character of the red man and his want of the expected supply of potatoes, and paid but little attention to them for some time. After getting well settled in his home it occurred to him that there might be a few small potatoes that would do to plant the next year, and he proceeded to secure them; but on digging them found to his great astonishment and happy disappointment, that he had an abundant supply of nice large potatoes, the first crop of potatoes raised in the limits of Bay County. Mr. Trombley interspersed his lessons in agriculture with fur trading, thus making his stay one of usefulness and profit. He continued to occupy that house until after the town of Lower Sagi- naw was laid out by the Saginaw Bay Company. Mr. Trombley, however, did not come here with any intention of permanent settle- ment. Soon after coming here he was offered a section of land upon which Bay City now stands in exchange for a horse he owned which he considered worth three hundred dollars; but he wouldn't trade. As he afterwards said, who would then have thought that a city would one day stand where there was nothing but swamp, with long grass, in which a man could stand and be hid-where there was scarcely an opening in the woods around it, in which wolves howled continually?
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