History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 14

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434

USA > Michigan > Kent County > History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 14

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

LOCATION OF THE BATTLE-FIELD.

About 12 miles below Saginaw City is "Skull Island," so named by the Indians in consideration that upon it exists an endless quantity of "dead heads," which were left here after a great fight, years long past, between the Chippewas and Sauks, their owners having no farther use for them, especially after they had passed through the hands of a set of hair-dressers who took off skin and hair together. These Indians were queer fellows in their days; and at this battle of Skull Island, which the Chippewas had trav- eled " many a weary mile to enjoy," they made a general Kilkenny cat fight of it, and as, like Maturin's tragedies, "all stabbed and everybody died," except about six on each side, each party of them retired and celebrated the victory, leaving the field in undis- turbed possession of the "skulls," which, having seen the folly of fighting, were willing to lie quiet, friend and foe " cheek by jowl," and compose themselves for a few more years of hunting and fishing, by the glorious expectation oftaking a squint at the " happy hunting grounds," and the proud consequence of having dedicated their respective knowledge-boxes to the christening of about two acres of Bad Island.

Just below this locality of warlike memory lies Sag-e-nong, upon a high bank on the west side of the river. This is the Saginaw of the red man, and the only place known to him by that name. The meaning of the word is the "land of Sauks." The place known to white men as Saginaw lies 12 miles or more up the river, and is called Ka-pay-shaw-wink, which means the "camping ground." . Here it was that the tribes living hereabout were wont to assem- ble statedly to hold council together, often continuing some days.

THE OTTAWAS AND POTTAWATOMIES.

Like the Otchipwes, the Indians of these tribes were invaders. Their conquest of Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana was not so bloody as that of the Sauk land; yet they succeeded in driving the old Miami race south to the Wabash, and holding possession of the land. They came as friends and stayed as ene- mies. In later years they formed an offensive and defensive alliance with the powerful Otchipwe nation, and shared with that. people in all the luxuries which nature offered.

PONTIAC'S VISITS TO THE VALLEY.

The Detroit garrison under Col. Beletre surrendered to Major Rogers, Nov. 29, 1760.

The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule. New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large trade was speedily manifested. Now, had the British. carried out their promises with the natives none of those savage

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

butcheries would have been perpetrated, and the country would have been spared their recital. All the Indians, from the mouth of Grand river to that of the Huron and from the Upper Peninsula to the prairie villages of Illinois and Indiana, were aroused to a sense of the varied wrongs which the new invaders were deter- mined to effect. Early in the year, following the surrender of Fort Detroit, the Indians of the North, South, East and West aroused themselves to a realization of the dangers which threatened them, and entered upon a desultory warfare against the British troops.

The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in this guerrilla warfare. The earliest authentic information regard- ing this noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named Alexander Henry, who, in the spring of 1761, pene- trated his domains as far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French, but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He declared that no treaty had been made with them, no presents sent them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation. He was at the time about 50 years of age, tall and dignified, and was civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Pottawatomies, and Otchipwes (or Chippewas, or Ojibwas).

The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina, were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified Feb. 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead. Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local quarrels to unite in this enter- prise.

From 1761 the great leader was present at the rapids of Grand river, where in the presence of over 3,000 Indians, he laid down his plans for the annihilation of the British troops and traders. The reception of Pontiac was the most demonstrative action spoken of in the history of the aborigines. This council was held in April, every band within the Peninsula was represented, everything told of war and blood, and as has been truly said, "each savage countenance seemed carved in wood, and none could have detected the deep and fiery passions'hidden beneath that immovable exterior." Pipes, with ornamented stems, were lighted, and passed from hand to hand.

The noble chief opened his address by setting forth the arrogance, rapacity and injustice of the English, and contrasted their deeds with those of the French. He declared that the British command- ant at Detroit had treated him with neglect and contempt; that the soldiers of that garrison had abused the Indians, and if left alone, would soon com e to drive his peaceful hearers from their homes

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around this beautiful Owashtenong. He fully set forth the danger that would arise to his people should the English gain supremacy. They had expelled the French, and would soon turn upon the In- dians. He then displayed a broad belt of wampum, stating that he had received it from their great father, the King of France, who would soon come to their assistance.

The visit was repeated in 1762 and again in 1763. Many of the Grand river warriors were already in the field, but the terrible Pontiac desired to leave the presence of all, and to this end made a tour of the Flint, Saginaw, Huron and Grand River valleys, send- ing forward from each district warrior bands for the better prosecu- tion of the war against the British.

The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May 7, 1763. Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, "scooped up in the hollow of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton. Pon- tiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit. Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclosing the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was car- ried out, however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. He endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions; but the guilt was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post.

Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764, continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He or- ganized a regular commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark, which, to his credit,it may be stated, were punc- tually redeemed. At the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he went further south, living many years among the Illinois. He had given up all hope of saving his coun- try and race. After a time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis in war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and only ended in a quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon afterward killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the Northern Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed. Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would un- doubtedly have been carried out.

THE INDIAN DEAD.

The nature of this funeral rite is thus described: A few days after the burial of the child, the father or mother or near relative

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

of the deceased gives a feast. The food was prepared and carried to the grave, to which all sympathizing friends repaired. If the feast was prepared by a man, none but men attended; and the same rule applied to women, as in the case under notice. When assem- bled, the ruler of the feast distributed to each one present a portion of the food prepared; and each one, before partaking, put as mall quantity on the head of the grave, so that it might fall through an aperture and reach the body of the dead. In such a female gather- ing, if one of the company were deemed profligate, she was not permitted to make this offering to the dead through her own hands; but another receives it from her, and offers it on her behalf. After the offerings were made to the deceased, the remainder of the food

was eaten by the company. Similar feasts were held in honor of deceased men and women. When the party consisted of warriors, addresses were made, and the virtues of the dead chanted. The festivals are repeated every year, and when returning from their wintering grounds to their villages in the spring they were accus- tomed to clear away the grass and weeds from each grave, and keep it so during the summer. Among the Ottawas it was customary to place a post, proportioned in height to the age and size of the de- ceased, at the head of a grave. On one side of this post appeared the picture of an animal, the name of which was the prevailing name in the family. On the other side was a clumsy drawing, slightly resembling a man minus a head, representing a person whom the deceased had slain in war; or if it were a child, the vic- tim of one of its relatives was pictured. A man with a head signi- fied a person wounded. Such hieroglyphics were multiplied in just such measure as circumstances pointed out. Near the grave post was placed a cane, about two feet in length, so that when the passing Indian or visitor arrives at the grave he strikes the post two or three times to announce his arrival. Posts eight or ten feet high were frequently placed by the side of a hut, and always n'ear the wigwam or hut wherein the conjurers met to consult on the cause of severe illness. On the upper end of this post was cut the figure of the human face. Mr. Sykins, afterward associated with McCoy, discovered one on Grand river, on which was carved with savage exquisiteness a bust of some Indian chief. In the village was seen a tall pole, neatly peeled, streaked in vermilion, and sur- mounted with a bunch of green boughs-probably representing the victory of some savage political party.

THE LEGEND OF THE LONE TREE.

The following legends and descriptions have been collected from many sources, and relate to history so far as they are characteristic of Indian life:

No person who has ever traversed the valley of the Grand River but remembers the "lone tree," which stood upon the west bank or side of the river, far from its fellows. It looked like some lone

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

misanthrope, who, having become disgusted with the vanities and foibles of human nature, had taken up his abode in the desert, where, far from the busy haunts of his fellow man, he might pour out his heart's bitterness to the wild winds, and waste his spleen and discontent upon the "desert air." There it stood, majestic in its loneliness, like Moore's last rose of summer. A spirit of ro- mance certainly seemed to linger about it; a whisper of the past gently breathed through its desolate branches, and the question naturally arose, Why is it that this tree thus stood alone ? A greater interest was imparted to it by the fact of its having been for years the abode of a white owl, whose dismal whoop fell mourn- fully upon the ear of night. The Indians had a great reverence for this tree, and also for its occupant, which they believed to be a spirit.

There is a beautiful belief existing among the aborigines of our country in regard to a guardian spirit, which they say is often seen, and which appears in the form of a bird, sometimes the dove, some- times the eagle, but more frequently assuming the form of a night bird, though the disposition of the deceased, while living, has much to do with the species. For instance, a great warrior dies whose disposition had been fearless, ambitious and untamed; his spirit-bird personifies an eagle; a blood-thirsty chieftain's spirit-bird is a hawk. A gentle maiden passes away to the spirit-land and her friends know that she is hovering near them when they hear the mournful notes of the turtle-dove at morn or eve.

A legend, or tradition, concerning the " lone tree " existed among the Indians of the valley. Many, many long years before the white man's foot had left its impress upon this land, Ke-wah-ke-won ruled his people with love and kindness. He was a patriarch among them, and beloved for the gentleness of his manners and the mild- ness of his government. He had been a great warrior in his day, but his youth had departed, and languid pulse and feeble footsteps told, alas! too plainly, that he would soon be treading the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit. The good old man felt that indeed he was passing away-dying-and he was desirous to see once more his tribes in council, and bestow upon them his last blessing, and impart to them his dying counsel and admonition. The old chief lay upon his death-bed, and around him were gathered, in mournful silence, his beloved people, eager to catch the first and last words that should drop from the lips of their dying chieftain. It was a mournful and melancholy picture, that death-bed scene ill the wilderness. At length the chief spoke, while the fire of his youth seemed to kindle again in his dim eye, and his voice, though weak, was calm and clear:

" My children," said he, " the Great Spirit has called to me, and I must obey the summons. Already is the hand raised to sever the last chord that binds me to my children; already my guide stands at the door to convey me to the hunting grounds of my fathers in the spirit-land. You weep, my children, but dry your

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tears, for though I leave you now, yet will my spirit-bird ever watch over you. I will whisper to you in the evening breeze, and when the morning comes you will know that I have been with you through the night. But the Good Spirit beckons for me, and I must hasten. Let my body be laid in a quiet spot on the prairie, with my tomahawk and pipe by my side. You need not fear that the wolf will disturb my rest, for the Great Spirit, I feel, will place a watch over me. Meet me in the spirit-land, my children. Fare- well." And the old chief slept the sleep that knows no waking till the end of time.

They buried him in a lone spot in the prairie, near the beautiful river, with his face toward the rising sun. His remains were never disturbed by bird or beast; for it would indeed seem that so the Great Spirit had ordered it. Time passed on, and a tree arose from his grave and spread its branches over it, as if to protect it, and a beautiful white owl took possession of it. The Indians tell us that the " lone tree " marked the last resting place of Ke-wah- ke-won, and that the white owl was the spirit-bird sent to watch over it. The lone tree is no longer seen by the traveler, for vandal hands have cut it down; yet the spot is often pointed out upon which it stood, and where sleeps Ke-wah-ke-won, the beloved of his tribe.

INDIAN PAYMENT DAY IN OLD TIMES.

There is a vast difference in the Indian payment day of the pres- ent and that of " olden time " long before Grand Rapids had at- tained it present importance and standing. About 1,200 Indians, of "all sorts and sizes," from the toddling pappoose to the swarthy niche-nah-va, were assembled together in the morning, upon the beautiful lawn which gently sloped toward the river in front of the council house, near the rapids. It would be almost im- possible to give the reader an idea of the hubbub and confusion of tongues that prevailed upon the occasion. Aside from the 1,000 Indians were a variety of other characters, including the chattering Frenchman, the blarneying Irishman, and the blubbering Dutch- man, all mingling their discordant jargon with that of the vocif- erous Yankee. Groups of Indian boys, some exercising with the bow and arrow, others jumping, running, wrestling, and making the welkin ring with their noisy merriment, were collected in the vicinity of their respective tents. The river, too, was covered with canoes, and here the " dusky maid " in a more quiet and becoming manner was enjoying the occasion; and it was really surprising to see the dexterity and fearlessness with which she managed the " light canoe." A list of all the names of the heads of Indian families, chiefs, etc., was taken by the Indian superintendent, each Indian being entitled to a certain amount. The money to be paid was placed upon a table in the council room, in piles of $10 and $20 each, in American half-dollar pieces. Around the table sat the

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Indian superintendent, interpreter, clerks, etc. Commencing at the top of the list, a crier called off the names, the parties presented themselves, were paid off, and immediately made room for others. It was amusing to observe the great number of "friends" that would gather around the Indian after he had received his money from the paymaster. Here a trader suddenly recollects some debt of long standing against Mr. Indian; there a seedy individual with sad eyes and nasal promontory coleur de pinque, most seductively offering him a drink of water slightly tinctured with poor whisky, while one or two dear friends are advising him to look out for sharpers, at the same time intimating that the superintendent has been paying off in bogus coin. In the evening, while the drinking Indians were rioting and carousing in the town, the evangelized natives were en- camped upon the opposite side of the river, and the surrounding forest fairly resounded with their loud singing, preaching and pray- ing. Instrumental music, from the fiddle to the Indian tum-tum, might also have been heard arising above the "horrid din."

The scene that presents itself at the Indian payment now-a-days is altogether a different one when such payments are made. We are happy to see measures adopted to prevent the sale of intoxicat- ing drinks to the poor Indian on such occasions. Would to God it might be prohibted upon all occasions.

SENTENCE AND EXECUTION.

The Chippewas and Ottawas inhabiting this section of Michigan were friendly to each other, and during the hunting seasons fre- quently encamped near each other. In the fall of 1853 a party of one tribe built their cabins on the banks of Maple river, and a party of the other tribe, about 80 in number, encamped close by. It is unnecessary to speak of their life in these camps; suffice it to say that the days were spent in hunting and the nights in drinking " fire water " and carousing. In one of the revels at the camp an Ottawa Indian, maddened by liquor, killed his squaw, and to con- ceal the deed threw her body upon the fire.

Recovering from the stupor of the revel, he saw that the signs of his guilt were still before him, and fearing the wrath of his tribe, he fled toward the other encampment of the Chippewas. His ab- sence was noticed, the charred remains of the poor squaw were found, and the cry for blood was raised. The avengers were soon upon his track, and they pursued him to the encampment of their neighbors; he was found, apprehended, and in solemn council doomed to the death which in the stern old Indian code is reserved for those only who shed the blood of their kin. It was a slow, tor- turing, cruel death. A hatchet was put in the victim's hand, he was led to a large log that was hollow, and made to assist in fixing it for his coffin. This was done by cutting into it some distance on the top in two places about the length of a man apart, then slab- bing off, and digging the hollow still larger so as to admit his body.

E lash.

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY. 151

This done, he was taken back and tied fast to a tree. Then they smoked and drank of the " fire water," and when evening came they kindled large fires around him. And now commenced the orgies; they drank to intoxication, they danced and sang in their wild In- dian manner, chanting the dirge of the recreant brave. The arrow was fitted to the ready bowstring, and ever and anon with its shrill twang it sent a missile into the quivering flesh of the homicide, and to heighten his misery they cut off his ears and nose.

Alternately drinking, dancing, beating their rude drums and shooting arrows into the victim, the night passed.

The next day was spent in sleeping and eating, the victim, mean- while, still bound to the tree. What his reflections were we of course cannot tell, but he bore his punishment as a warrior should.

When night closed around it brought his executioners to their work again. The scene of the first night was re-enacted, and so it was the next night, and the next and the next, and so on for a week. Seven long and weary days did he stand there, tortured with the most cruel torture, before his proud head dropped upon his breast, and his spirit left his clayey tenement for the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit. And when it did they took the body, wrapped it in a new clean blanket, and placed it in the log coffin he had helped to hollow. They put his hunting knife by his side that he might have something to defend himself on the way; his whisky bottle, that he might cheer his spirits with a draught now and then, and his tobacco pipe that he might smoke. Then they put on the cover, drove down stakes each side of the log, and filled up between them with logs and brush. The murdered squaw was avenged. The camp was broken up, and the old stillness and quiet once more reigned over the forest spot where was consummated this signal act of retributive justice.

CHAPTER III. WELL REMEMBERED SAVAGES.

Before completing this section of the work, it is deemed just and proper to place before the reader a few personal sketches of the inen who were found here when the sun of civilization began to cast its golden stream upon the land. In the selection of the names to be noticed, the Indians located within the county within its pioneer period are chosen, leaving the others to be referred to in the treaty papers.

Cobmoosa, whose death at Pentwater was recorded as recently as 1872, was an Indian of the Indians. For many years he acted as sub-chief over the Flat River band of Indians, was very conserva- tive in his ideas, majestic in style, honest in principle, and a heart of oak among his people. In his young days the band beheld his rapid growth, great strides and peculiar gesture. He was named The "Big Walker," or Cobmoosa, and until toward the close of his career here, observed every point that could tend to a continuance of this title. He was the foster father of Wabacis, and the parent of Acongo and Aishkibegosh. Previous to his acceptance of the Chris- tian's faith he was master of six wives, three of whom were sisters, daughters of the chief, Wobwindego. Cobmoosa observed all the manners and customs of his race until 1861, when he relaxed his Indian discipline, cast away his Indian pride, and died almost as poor in principle as any of the latter day members of his tribe.

Wakazoo, chief of the Holland band, was distinguished above his fellows. Manly in every respect, generous to a fault, possess- ing talents of a high order, and fully aware of the superiority of the whites over his people, he never failed to inculcate the. observ- ance of law, the acquisition of knowledge and the pursuit of honest labor. In 1848 this chief removed with his band to Grand Traverse, and there died the death of a drunkard.

Maxsauba, one of the braves of the Holland band, claiming to be the only specimen of the Indian warrior left to the race, was a sub-chief. He had the reputation of being a great orator and fight- ing-man; but opposed to all this was a temper untamable, and a thirst for blood unquenchable. He looked on the white invaders with scorn, yet feared to touch them in life and property. He was terrible in the midst of his friends, a mouse in the villages of the white settlers. Was the " massasauga " rattlesnake named after him ?

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History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 14

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co. Number of Pages: 1434

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434