USA > Michigan > Branch County > History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 7
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As Mackinaw had already yielded to a British force, the surrender of Detroit and of Hull's army, with all the troops in the vicinity, carried with it control over the whole of Michigan, which, for the next year, became practically British territory. All the Indians were already favor- able to the English, and the remarkable success of the latter naturally increased the confidence of the red men in their prowess. The warriors thronged by hundreds to the
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HISTORY OF BRANCHI COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
camp of the victors, and hardly a Pottawattamie or Ottawa capable of wielding a tomahawk was left behind.
Nine days after the surrender, and perhaps in conse- quence of it, a band of Pottawattamies, who resided at the head of Lake Michigan, fell upon, and massacred, the little garrison of Fort Dearborn (on the site of Chicago), as it was endeavoring to retreat east ward from that exposed post.
The next conflict in which the Pottawattamies took part was the celebrated battle of the river Raisin, near the site of Monroe, on the 22d day of January, 1813. lIere a large force of British and Indians, under Gen. Proctor and Tecumseh, attacked a body of Americans, under Gen. Winchester. Auchinleck, the Canadian histo- rian of the war of 1812, says there were two hundred Pottawattamies in the battle, and that these were about all the Indians present. It is admitted that they fought with great bravery, and their efforts, with those of their British comrades, were entirely successful. Whether from actual necessity, or because of the pall of imbeeility which seems to have fallen upon the whole American army during the first months of the war of 1812, Gen. Winchester and his entire force surrendered to Gen. Proctor.
That officer soon after moved northward with the British troops, and most of the able-bodied prisoners, leaving the sick and wounded to the mercy of the Indians. He knew well enough what the result would be-what it always has been where the savages have had the opportunity of wreak- ing vengeance on the head of a helpless foc. No sooner had the British disappeared than the Pottawattamies, and the other Indians with them, fell upon the wretched Ameri- cans who were left behind. They began by plundering them of everything they possessed. Then, as their rage grew by its own indulgence, they thirsted for more exqui- site pleasure than plunder afforded. First one ferocious warrior sank his tomahawk into the head of some helpless vietim, and, with a fearful yell, tore away the recking sealp. Another, and another, and another, quickly followed his example, and soon the whole scene became one of brutal butchery, the sick and wounded Americans being slaughtered by the score without remorse by the savage l'ot- tawattamies. It was what was to be expected from them, but something better might have been hoped from British officers, and few more disgraceful events have ever hap- pened than Proctor's abandonment of his helpless prisoners to the fury of the savages. It should be added that Te- cumseh was absent when the massacre began, and on his arrival did all in his power to stop it.
There were no other events of importance in which the Pottawattamies took part during that year, 1812, and as usual they returned home to hunt as winter approached.
In the spring of 1813, they again rallied to the aid of the British. After numerous desultory operations during the forepart of the year, Proctor and Tecumseh led a large force of British aud Indians to attack the fort at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio. The number of Indians was estimated at from one to two thousand, of whom from three to four hundred were Pottawattamies.
On the 2d of August, an assault was made by about five hundred British troops, while the Indians surrounded the fort, and kept np a continuous firing on every Ameri-
can soldier they could discover. But the attacking column was completely repulsed by the one hundred and sixty Americans in the fort, commanded by the gallant Maj. Croghan, and both the red and white assailants quickly retired from the field.
The British and American fleets on Lake Erie were now preparing for action, and both were greatly deficient in seamen. The Americans supplied their place with raw militiamen, boys, and negroes ; the English endeavored to strengthen themselves by placing a number of Indian war- riors on each vessel, to act as sharpshooters and pick off the American gunners. On the memorable 10th of September the battle was fought which decided the mastery of Lake Erie. But alas for the noble red men ; no sooner did the American cannon-balls come crashing among them, and the ships shake from stem to stern with the thunder of their own guns, than Shawnees, Pottawattamies, and Otta- was alike fled from their elevated positions, took refuge in the holds of their respective vessels, and there remained in ignominious security but quaking in every nerve until the end of the conflict. They would have fought bravely, perhaps desperately, in their native woods, but their unac- customed position and the terrifie thunder of the cannon were too much even for their stoie natures.
The battle of Lake Erie was immediately followed by the advance of the American army into Canada, under Gen. Harrison. The British and Indians retreated to the northeast. On the 29th of September, Gen. Har- rison took possession of Detroit, and Michigan once more- and let us trust forever-passed under American sway.
For, two or three days later, Harrison followed the British army up the river Thames. On the 5th day of October he overtook it near the Moravian towns on that stream, and the celebrated battle of the Thames ensued. The British were in line of battle next the river; on their right were the Indians, under Tecumseh, extending in irregular order into a swamp which protected their position on the north.
Tecumseh doubtless saw that this battle was to determine the event of the war so far as he and his were concerned. If the Americans could not be defeated, then, whatever might be the result elsewhere, there could be little hope but that the United States would hold possession of Mich- igan and the whole Northwest, and his people must go down before their power. Many of the more intelligent Shawnees and Pottawattamies likewise understood the situation, and the rest were devoted to Tecumsch ; all were determined to fight to the utmost.
The battle was begun in a very peculiar manner, Col. Richard M. Johnson's regiment of mounted riflemen being ordered to charge the enemy's lines, in advance of the in- fantry. Singularly enough, the British infantry at once gave way before the charge of a single battalion of the regiment, led by the lieutenant-colonel. Six hundred of them were taken prisoners, but their general, the man responsible for the massacre of the river Raisin, fled so carly and so rap- idly as to escape capture.
The other battalion was led by Col. Johnson himself, his principal foes being the Indians. From them, even after the British had all fled or surrendered, the riffemen encountered a fieree resistance. Cheered on by Tecumseh
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IIISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and the other chiefs, among whom Maipock, a fierce and implacable Pottawattamie, was one of the most conspic- uous, and feeling that this was their last chance, Shaw- nees, Ottawas, and Pottawattamies all fought with equal valor and ferocity. The Ameriean infantry came up and engaged in the conflict, yet still the warriors fought with desperate and useless eourage against overwhelming numbers. But at length Tecumseh fell (no one has ever ascertained exactly when or where), the remaining braves were outnum- bered four to one, and all speedily fled or yielded to the victors. The Pottawattamies stood by Tecumseh to the last, and one of their number, a large, fine-looking chief, who was slain while emulating his great leader, is said to have been mistaken for him by many of the Americans.
The battle of the Thames completely extinguished the hopes of victory and independence indulged by the Indians of the Northwest. The confederacy which had been formed among them by the genius of Tecumseh at once fell in pieces after his death, and each tribe thought only of secur- ing its own safety. The Pottawattamies, Ottawas, and several other tribes immediately sent delegations offering peace to the successful Americans, and on the 16th of October Gen. Harrison granted them an armistice, having first received a number of warriors from each tribe as host- ages for the peaceable conduct of their comrades. The latter returned to their villages, and, although the war did not cease until the beginning of 1815, they were glad to refrain from taking any part in it.
Henceforth we have to deal with the Pottawattamies, not as a proud and powerful people, the unquestioned lords of Southern Michigan, setting at defiance by turns the governments of England and the United States, but as a subjugated, disorganized tribe, composed of a few feeble, scattered bands, roaming over the scenes of their former greatness, bartering their birthright for whisky, and beg- ging for occasional crusts from the hands of their conquerors. For these it will not be necessary to continue a separate record. Their story can be sufficiently told by occasional mention in the chapters devoted to the progress of the whites, and by description of the treaties by which the demoralized nation disposed of its broad domain.
CHAPTER VI. THE TREATY-MAKING PERIOD.
Recapitulation-Michigan after the War-Gov. Cass-Bad Repute of the Territory-Change of the Indiana Boundary-Treaty of 1817- Large Pottawattamie Delegations-Treaty of 1818-Topinabee still the IIead Chief-Treaty of 1821-A Curious Incident-" Give us Whisky"-The Great Cession-Description of the Ceded Traet- Names of the Pottawattamie Signers-The Reservations-Location of "Marek-ke-saw-bee"-The Bounds insisted on by the Chief- Uneven Tracts still Remaining-The Consideration Paid for the Cession-New Land District-The Chicago Road-Primitive En- gineering-Good Fords selected hy the Indians-The old Trading- Post-Marantelle-Black Ilawk and his Band-A Quarrel in 1825 -The Boy's Vietory-Prospecting Parties-First Settlements in Hillsdale and St. Joseph Counties-Treaty of 1827-Exchange of Territory-On the Verge of Settlement.
DESIGNING in this consecutive general history of the county to adhere as closely as possible to the chronological
order, we have mentioned, in our chapters on the Pottawat- tamies, the transfer of Michigan from the French to the English, in 1703 ; its conveyance by England to the United States, at the end of the Revolution ; its becoming a part of the Northwest Territory, in 1787; the transference to Indi- ana of the western half, including Branch County, in 1800; the annexation of the eastern half to the same territory, in 1802 ; and the separate organization of Michigan, in 1805. At the close of the war, in 1815, there was still only a nar- row fringe of settlement along the Detroit River and Lake Erie, and this was in a most desolate condition. Many had been driven away by fear of the Indians, the property of others had been largely destroyed, and all were thoroughly discouraged by the trouble, terror, and hardships through which they had passed. As for the interior of the Terri- tory, it was still in a state of nature.
Gen. Lewis Cass had been appointed Governor immedi- ately after the battle of the Thames, and as soon as the close of the war gave him an opportunity he devoted him- self with great zeal to the development of the resources of the Territory and the promotion of emigration. Whatever may be thought of his political course, all the early resi- dents of Michigan agree that as the governor of a new Territory he could not have been excelled.
There was a considerable emigration immediately after the war, but the Territory had obtained so bad a reputation for dampness of soil and badness of health that the flow of land-seekers was less than might have been expected, and did not even approach the borders of Branch County for many years. In fact, a law which had been passed by Con- gress in 1812, giving a large tract of Michigan land to sur- viving soldiers of the Revolution, was repealed after the war on account of a report made by inspectors sent to ex- amine the ground, that there was not enough good land in the Territory to satisfy the just claims of the beneficiaries.
As stated in the previous chapter, the original line es- tablished between Indiana and Michigan in 1805 ran dne east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. But by the law of April 19, 1816, authorizing Indiana to form a State constitution, it was enacted that the boundary should run through a point ten miles north of the southern ex- tremity of the lake; the object doubtless being to give Indiana the port of Michigan City, which, however, has not been of much advantage. Thus it happened that Branch County, when it came to be formed, was ten miles shorter on the south than it would probably otherwise have been.
Together with the office of Governor of Michigan, Gen. Cass held that of Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northwest, and immediately after the close of the war turned bis attention to the subject of the extinguishment of the In- dian title, so that the Territory might be open to settlement by the whites. In September, 1817, he and Gen. Duncan McArthur held a council with the sachems and chiefs of the Wyandots, Senecas, Delawares, Shawnees, Pottawatta- mies, Ottuwas, and Chippewas, at the rapids of the Mau- mee, when those nations ceded to the United States nearly all their lands in Ohio, and a small area in the southeastern part of Michigan.
For the cession of these lauds, in which the Pottawatta-
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HISTORY OF BRANCHI COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
mies had but a slight interest, they received thirteen linn- dred dollars a year annually for fifteen years; the Wyandots being granted four thousand dollars annually forever ; the Ottawas and Chippewas a thousand dollars each annually for fifteen years, while the other tribes received smaller annuities. The treaty was signed by thirty-two Pottwwcut- tamie chiefs and warriors, while all the other tribes together were represented by about fifty. In fact, it was a charac- teristic of this tribe to have very large delegations at all the councils where their interests were brought in question. Judging from the number of their representatives, they were the most democratie people in the whole Northwest.
In October, 1818, Gen. Cass and two other commis- sioners held a council with the Pottawattamies alone, by which the latter ceded to the United States a tract of land on the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers for a perpetual an- nuity of two thousand five hundred dollars per year. This treaty was signed by thirty-four chief's and warriors, headed by old " Topinabee." In 1820, Henry R. Schoolcraft, the celebrated student of Indian customs and history, states that the Pottawattamies of both Illinois and Michigan " obeyed" Topinabee, an old man who had signed the Greenville treaty with Gen. Wayne. But the " obedience" of the Indians to their chief's was always very indefinite, and after the close of the war of 1812, when the growing power of the United States relieved them from the constant fear of war with neighboring tribes, their tendency to wander off in small bands, cach under the leadership of some petty chieftain, became more and more pronounced. In 1820 the Pottawattamies were estimated by Mr. School- craft at three thousand four hundred persons all told.
But by far the most important of the treaties negotiated by Gen. Cass, so far as the destinies of Southern Michigan were concerned, was the one concluded at Chicago on the 29th day of August, 1821. IIon. Solomon Sibley was as- sociated with the general as a commissioner on behalf of the United States, while the Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawattamies, who were the contracting parties on the other side, were represented, the first-named tribe by two chiefs, the second by eight, and the Pottawattamies by fifty-five. That is to say, that was the number which signed the treaty, but there was also a large number of less prominent warriors present, with their squaws and pa- pooses, and these warriors, and even the squaws, in the democratic constitution of Indian polity, could excreise a strong influence on the negotiations.
A curious incident in connection with this council is narrated in Smith's " Life of Cass," as derived from the gen- cral himself. While the latter was watching some peculiar ceremonies of the Indians in the carly part of the procced- ings, he observed a Chippewa looking very grave, and keeping apart from his fellows. Gov. Cass inquired the cause, and learned that the man, in a fit of passion, had killed a Pottawattamie in the carly part of the same sea- son. The Pottawattamies had demanded the surrender of the murderer, and as the Chippewas, and in fact the homicide himself, admitted the justice of the claim, it was expected that the clansmen of the murdered man would inflict the penalty of death.
But the latter was owing some traders for goods received 5
of them, and he was anxious to pay them before he died. He solicited and obtained the postponement of his execution until he could, by hunting, procure the means of satisfying his creditors. He had hunted successfully through the season, had obtained furs enough to pay his debts, and had come to the council prepared to suffer death at the hands of the friends of his victim. The Governor was touched by the stolid honesty of the doomed man, and by liberal presents to his intended executioners persnaded them to let him go free.
Probably an ample supply of whisky was the principal consideration which induced them to forego their revenge ; for this was ever the most potent agent to reach their hearts. It is related, on the same authority above given, that even Topinabee, the hereditary chief of the Pottawattamies and the one who stood highest in their confidence, the veteran of nearly a hundred years who had signed the Greenville treaty with Anthony Wayne, was more anxious about ob- taining a supply of whisky than anything else. When Gen. Cass urged him to keep sober so as to make a good bargain for himself and his people, he replied :
" Father, we do not care for the land, nor the money, nor the goods,-what we want is whisky ; give us whisky."
Possibly, however, the old man spoke sarcastically, in view of the manifest anxiety of many of the Indians for that which was their deadliest banc.
After the usual time spent in bargaining and adjusting details (for the Indians were by no means all of them so drunk as to lose sight of their interests), the terms of the treaty were agreed upon and reduced to writing. By it the Pottawattamies as the actual occupants, and the Ottawas and Chippewus as their allies, ceded to the United States a tract of land stretching nearly across the Territory of Mich- igan from west to east, and described as follows : Beginning on the south bank of the St. Joseph River of Michigan near " Pare anx Vaches" (a short distance above the mouth) ; thence south to a line running due cast from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan ; thence along that line to the tract ceded by the treaty of Fort Meigs in 1817 (which was far to the cast of Hillsdale County), or, if that tract should be found to lie entirely south of the line, then to the tract ceded by the treaty of Detroit in 1807 (the west- ern boundary of which was twenty miles west of Lake Erie and the Detroit River) ; thence northward along that tract to a point due cast of the source of Grand River; thence west to the source of that river; thence down the river on the north bank to its junction with Lake Michigan ; thence southward along the cast bank of the lake to the mouth of the St. Joseph River ; and thence up that river to the place of beginning.
Below we give the names of the Pottawattamie chiefs and warriors who signed the treaty of Chicago, both to show the original title of Branch County land (for the Ottawas and Chippewas were merely allies of the real owners,-at least so far as the land in this vicinity was concerned), and also to show what sort of names our pre- deccssors indulged in.
The list is headed by the veteran Topenabee, after whom came the following : Meteay, Chebonsee, Loinson, Weesaw, Keepotaw, Sehayank, Keebee, Schomang, Wawwemick-
HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
emack, Javoucheremon, Konge, Sheeshawgn. Aysheam, Mecksaymank. Moytenway. Shawwennemetay, Francois. Mauksee, Waymego, Maudauming, Quayguee. Aapeuhaw- be, Matchaweeyaas, Matchapoggish, Mongau. Piggagaus, Sescobennish. Cheegwamackgwago. Wawsebban. Peech- cerco. Quonquoitaw. Reanuish. Wyuemaig, Onmuckemeck, Kawaysin. Amerkkose. Ossermeet. Shawkoto, Noshaywee- quat. Mecgunn, Maesheketeumon, Keenotage. Wabawne shen. Shawwawnayse. Atchweemmekquee. Pishsheebangay. Wawbassay. Meggosseese, Saygawko mick. Shaw wayne. Sheeshawgun, Totomee. Ashkuwee, Shayankkeebee, Awbe- tenee. If that array of names doesn't give a good title to land it were difficult to find one that would.
From this cession were excepted five reservations: one four miles square at Nottawa-seepe, in the present county of St Joseph : Que three miles square at Prairie Ronde. in the present county of Kalamazoo ; one three miles square at the head of the Kalamazoo River, near the line between Hillsdale and Jackson Counties; one six miles square at Mangachqua. " on the river Peble :" and one six miles square at Mick-kesaw-bee. The last named was in what is now Branch County, comprising the eastern two-thirds of town- ship 6 south. range 6 west (Coldwater , and the easteru one-third of township 6, range 5 ,Quiney .
When the government surveyor, a year or two later, ran out the newly-purchased land into townships, he was also in- structed to survey the lines of the reservation. the chief's of the band which dwelt in the vicinity having the privilege of locating the boundaries. The surveyor wanted to make square work and run the boundaries so they would come on section lines. The chief's, however. objected to this, and in- sisted that the western boundary of the reservation should run G0 rods west of the east line of sections 3. S. 11. 20. 20, and 32, in what is now Coldwater, and that the eastern boundary should run through the sime sections in the present Quincy. The surveyor was at length compelled to run the lines as desired by the chiefs. It is ditheult to imagine the object of the latter, unless it was to save all the land possible by keeping out of both Marble and Coldwater Lakes.
The outside land was subdivided into sections and quarter- sections before the reservation was ceded to the United States : afterwards the reservation was subdivided in the same manner. It resulted that the east halves of the sections named. instead of being divided into So-acre and there traets, as is usually the case, were ent into 60-acre and Ipo- sere tracts, and many of them retain that size to the present time. Notwithstanding the words of the treaty, the size of the reservation was at first in some doubt in the writer's mind; bu: Mr. J. B. Tompkins, of Girard, an o'd surveyor. caled our attention to the row of 80-acre for near 80-acre traets running north and south through Quiney, just six miles from the corresponding row in Coldwater, and as this width corresponded to the language of the treaty, there could no longer be any reasonable question that the reservation was actually laid out six miles square.
By t'e trea ; of Chicago. the United States agreed to blacksmith, teacher, and farmer. To the P.tucatto vies
the government agreed to pay five thousand dollars annually for twenty year, besides a thousand dollars per year to sup- port a blacksmith and teacher. These were some of the first provisions made by the government for the purpose of civilizing the ludians.
Such was the treaty which gave the title of the land of Branch County to the United States, and. consequently. constitutes the basis of all land-titles in that county except on the reservation.
For several years after this treaty no settlement was made in Branch County, and the Indians did not confine them- selves at all to the reservations assigned them, but strayed at will through the forest and over the prairies. They had a small village near the site of Coldwater, and a still smaller one near that of Girard, of which more will be said a little farther on.
In 1823, the Detroit land district was divided and a land- office established at Monroe. The new district embraced not only the land in the immediate vicinity of Mourve, but all that part of the territory west of the " principal meridian" ( which afterwards became the east line of Hillsdale County).
A little later, through the influence of Gen. Cass. the general government ordered the construction of a road a hundred feet wide from Detroit to Chicago (with a branch from near Mourve, striking the main line near the eastern line of Hillsdale County), and appropriated ten thousand dollars to pay for a survey of it.
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