USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume I > Part 14
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During the day-time the warriors gave sundry exhibitions of their powers of endurance. A muscular brave stood unconcerned while two chiefs stuck long skewers through the flesh of his shoul- ders. The lines of a horse were attached to the skewers, and the warrior ordered to lead the animal around until the flesh gave way. With blood streaming down his back and breast, and mingling with the paint upon his dusky body, the strong savage walkcd around for some hours without a murmur. Though the flesh upon his shoulders tore in the direction of his neck, yet it did not give
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
way, and the medicine man with much ceremony, unbound the hero, withdrew the skewers and left him at liberty to walk around the camp in triumph.
In the second trial a young brave was introduced, who allowed two skewers to be thrust through the flesh of his breast, to which two lariats were attached. These were suspended from the root pole of the tent. He then began to swing around the tent as far as the lariat would allow him, throwing his whole weight upon these raw-hide lines in an endeavor to break loose. During this barbarous exhibition, the drummers drummed with all their might and the dancers wore out their new moccasins in their efforts to dance harder. After two hours of such terrible exercise, the brave dem- onstrated the toughness of his flesh, and the entire band called out for his release, when the medicine man withdrew the skewers amid grunts of approval from old and young.
Another heroic scalper permitted three wooden pegs to be driven into his flesh. To these pegs heavy muskets were tied, and with this load the Indian walked proudly into the midst of the girls' dancing ground and flirted with the dusky maids as if nothing troubled him.
The dance was kept up for a few nights, when the medicine man made "medicine for rain," and in an hour a perfect down-pour came to announce to them that the Great Spirit was pleased with the festival.
THE DOG FEAST.
After the dance the " white-dog feast" was spread. It was sup- posed by those sons of nature that the eating of a dog's liver, with- out regard to the quality of the dog, made them strong-hearted. The temple used for the thiist dance was taken down, the pole alone being allowed to stand. Around this remnant of the tem- ple the warriors seated themselves for a convivial smoke. Sud- denly a cry was heard, the warriors sprang to their feet and commenced circling around to the dismal music of a drum; the quivering carcass of a white dog was cast into the circle by one of the squaws; the men whooped in ecstacy; the carcass was cut open, the liver taken out and suspended by a shag-a-nappi thong from the sacred pole; the warriors stepped forward one by one, and each taking a bite of the yet warm liver, marched off contented. As soon as this liver was consumed another dog was cast into the cir- cle, when a similar performance was enacted. This continued to the end of the great feast until, perhaps, 100 dogs, were, thus sac- rificed.
Such is a description of only one barbarous festival held on the ground where Saginaw City now stands. , ,It was, however, the most pacific exhibition of Indian endurance and religious ideas, not approaching in barbarity many terrible dramas enacted on the camping grounds of the red men.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
THE TREATY OF SAGINAW.
Early in June, 1819, General Cass received a copy of the treaty, which the Government desired should be made with the Indians. In that document a few extraordinary articles were presented, which however were not read before the council. The following is a transcript of the first treaty of Saginaw, with the names of all par- ties engaged in its presentation to, and acceptance by the Indians.
ART. 1. The Chippewa nation of Indians, in consideration of the stipulations herein made on the part of the United States, do hereby forever cede to the United States the land comprehended within the following lines and boundaries : Beginning at a point in the present Indian boundary line, which runs due north from the mouth of the great Anglaize river, six miles south of the place where the base line, so called, intersects the same; thence, west, sixty miles ; tlience, in a direct line, to the head of Thunder Bay river; thence, down the same, follow- ing the course thereof, to the mouth; thence, northeast, to the boundary line between the United States and the British Province of Upper Canada ; tlience, with the same, to the line established by the treaty of Detroit, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seven; thence with the said line to the place of beginning.
ART. 2. From the cession aforesaid the following tracts of land shall be reserved, for the use of the Chippewa nation of Indians.
One tract, of eight thousand acres, on the east side of the river Au Sable near where the Indians now live.
One tract, of two thousand acres, on the river Mesagwisk.
' One tract, of six thousand acres, on the north side of the river Kawkawling, at the Indian village.
One tract, of five thousand seven hundred and sixty acres, upon the Flint river, to include Reaum's village, and a place called Kishkawbawee.
One tract, of eight thousand acres, on the head of the river Huron, which empties into the Saginaw river, at the village of Otusson.
One island in the Saginaw Bay.
One tract, of two thousand acres, where Nabolask formerly lived.
One tract, of one thousand acres, near the island in the Saginaw river.
One tract, of two thousand acres, at the mouth of Point Au Gros river.
One tract, of one thousand acres, on the river Huron, at Menoequet's village.
One tract, of ten thousand acres, on the Shiawassee river, at a place called the Big Rock.
One tract, of three thousand acres, on the Shawassee river, at Ketchewaundau- genick.
One tract, of six thousand acres, at the Little Forks, on the Tetabawasink river. One tract, of six thousand acres, at the Black Bird's town, on the Tetabawasink river.
One tract, of forty thousand acres, on the Saginaw river, to be hereafter located. ART. 3. There shall be reserved for the use of each of the persons hereinafter mentioned and their heirs, which persons are all Indians by descent, the follow- ing tracts of land :
For the use of John Riley, the son of Menawcumegoqua, a Chippewa woman, six hundred and forty acr 's of land, beginning at the head. of. the first marsh. above the mouth of the Saginaw river, on the east side thereof.
For the use of Peter Riley, the son of Menawcumegoqua, a Chippewa woman, six hundred and forty acres of land beginning above and adjoin ng the apple- trees on the west side of the Saginaw river, and running up the same for quantity.
For the use of James Riley, the son of Me awcumegoqua, a Chippewa woman, six hundred and forty acres, beginning on the east side of the Saginaw river, nearly opposite to Campau's trading house, and running up the river for quantity.
For the use of Kawkawiskou, or the Crow, a Chippewa chief, six hundred and forty acres of land, on the east side of the Saginaw river, at a place called Men- itsgow, and to include, in the said six hundred and forty acres, the island opposite to the said place.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
For the use of Nowokeshik, Metawanene, Mokitchenoqua, Nondeshemau, Petabonaqua, Messawwakut, Checbalk, Kitchegeequa, Sigosequa, Annoketoqua, and Tawcumegoqua, each, six hundred and forty acres of land, to be located at and near the grand traverse of the Flint river, in such manner as the President of the United States may direct.
For the use of the children of Bokowtonden, six hundred and forty acres, on the Kawkawling river.
ART. 4. In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay to the Chippewa nation of Indians, annually, for ever, the sum of one thou- sand dollars in silver; and do hereby agree that all annuities due by any former treaty to the said tribe, shall be hereafter paid in silver.
ART. 5. The stipulation contained in the treaty of Greenville, relative to the right of the Indians to hunt upon the land ceded, while it continues the property of the United States, shall apply to this treaty ; and the Indians shall, for the same term, enjoy the privilege of making sugar upon the same land, committing no unnecessary waste upon the trees.
ART. 6. The United States agree to pay to the Indians the value of any im- provements which they may be obliged to abandon in consequence of the lines established by this treaty, and which improvements add real value to the land.
ART. 7. The United States reserve to the proper authority the right to make roads through any part of the land reserved by this treaty.
ART. 8 The United States engage to provide and support a blacksmith for the Indians, at Saginaw, so long as the President of the United States inay think proper, and to furnish the Chippewa Indians with such farming utensils, and cattle, and to employ such persons to aid them in their agriculture, as the Presi- dent may deem expedient.
ART. 9. This treaty shall take effect, and be obligatory on the contracting parties, so soon as the same shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof.
Iu testimony whereof, the said Lewis Cass, Commissioner as aforesaid, and the Chiefs and Warriors of the Chippewa nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands, at Saginaw, in the Territory of Michigan, this twenty-fourth day of Sep- tember, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen.
LEWIS CASS.
After the contracting parties agreed, the following names were affixed to the document :
Pa-ken-o-sega,
Kauguest,
Okooyousinse, Ondottowaugane, Amickoneena,
Keneobe,
Chimokemow,
Aneuwayba,
Moksauba,
Kenenutchegun,
Walkcaykeejugo,
Kitcheonundeeyo,
Mutchwetau,
Mocksonga, Noukonwabe,
Nawgonissee,
Okee man peenay- Okumanpinase, see,
Meckseonne,
Shingwalk, Jr.,
Wauweeyatam,
Minggeeseetay,
Paupemiskobe.
Wawaubequak,
Shawshauwenau- bais,
Peaypaymanshee,
Wauwassack,
Muskobenense,
Okemares, or Oke- Ocanauck, mes.
Ogeebouinse,
Mamawsecuta,
Wausaquanai,
Misheneanonquet, Nimeke,
Paymeenoting,
Penaysewaykesek,
Minequet, . Otauson,
Manelingobwawaa, Puckwash,
Kaujagonaygee,
Shashebak,
Tussegua, Mixabee,
Waseneso,
Mayneeseno.
Shaconk,
Kitchewawashen,
Mantons,
Mesnakrea,
Neebeenaquin,
Kennewobe
Wepecumgegut.
Maytwayaushing,
Anueemaycown- Agangonabe, beeme, Sigonak,
Markkenwuwbe, Fonegawne,
Saguhosh,
Onewequa,
Kokoosh,
Pemaw,
Nemete owwa,
Kitchmokooman,
Paymusawtum, Endus,
Peshquescum. Muckcumcinau, Kitcheenoting, Waubeekeenew,
Kewageone,
Aushetayawnekusa
Pashkeekou, Mayto,
Metewa, Kawgeshequm, Keyacum, Atowagesek,
Reaume,
Wawapenishik, Omikou,
Leroy.
Sheemaugua,
Nowkeshuc, Mixmunitou
Wassau,
Ke-ken-ut-chega,
Kitsheematush.
Waubishcan,
Kagkakeshik,
Pashkobwis,
Auton waynabee,
Saugassawway,
Nuwagon,
Shingwalk,
Owenisham,
Mawmawkens,
Waubonoosa,
Naynooautienish- Kewaytinam, koan,
Sepewan,
Kakagouryan, Meewayson,
Singgok,
Saybo, Obwole,
Nayokeeman,
Kawotoktame, Sabo,
Kishkaukou, Peenaysee, Ogemaunkeket?,
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
WITNESSES AT SIGNING :
John L. Lieb, Secretary; D. G. Whitney, Assistant-Secretary; C. L. Case, Capt. 3d Infantry ; R. A Forsyth, Jr., acting commissioner; Chester Root, Capt. U. S. Artillery ; John Peacock, Lieut 3d U. S. Infantry; G. Godfrey, sub-Agent; W. Knaggs, sub-Agent; William Tuckey, Louis Beaufort, John Hurson, sworn Interpreters James V. S. Ryley. B.' Campau, John Hill, Army Contractors; J. Whipple, Henry I. Hunt, William Keith, A. E. Lacock, M. S. K .; Richard Smyth, Louis Dequindre, B. Head, John Smyth, Conrad Ten Eyck.
PRESENTATION OF THE TREATY.
Owing to the number and ferocity of many of the Indian inhab- itants of the valley, it was a matter of the greatest importance that not only should the Governor be a true representative of the power- ful young Republic, but also that every one associated with him in the enterprise, should fully realize the great value of the issues at stake. They would have to reply to the natural logic of nature's children; and obtain by the power of mild persuasion all that which force might possibly fail to obtain at the time. With this sense of responsibility resting upon him, and shared in by the members of his party, he left Detroit Sept. 7, and arrived at Cam- pau's location near the great Indian camp three days later. The story of this visit of Gen. Cass, and the varied places of treaty- making with the Indians has been graphically described by Hon. Charles P. Avery. He refers to the Territorial Governor at the beginning, and follows up the story of the treaty of 1819 from its beginning to its close :-
"Gen. Cass," he says, "was then in the vigor of his manhood, with a laudable ambition to achieve a national reputation, and to identify himself by his exertions with the acquisitions of such a valuable body of land, feeling that the influx of immigration, then beginning to be felt at Detroit and its vicinity, required a wider domain for it to spread over, and with the greater security it would give to life and property of settlers upon the domain which had been acquired by the previous treaty, and felt the importance .of the enterprise into which he was abont to embark, and that if successful, it would be an achievement upon which any statesman might well ground a claim for the gratitude of those then living at and near Detroit, and might be excused if he looked to such achievement as the ground work of future national honors. He appeared upon the Saginaw, upon the site of what is now Saginaw City, on the 10th of September, 1819, with his staff of interpreters and assistants. They made the journey the whole distance upon horseback, from Detroit via Flint, and thence down the river by what was until lately the Indian Reservation of Pe-won-ny- go-wingh, which was at that time the Tribal home of Chief Ne-ome and his successor in the chieftainship, Tone-dok-a-nee.
" Before leaving Detroit the General had directed Mr. Lonis Campan, who had been, since 1816, an established Indian trader at that point upon the Saginaw, to build the council house and make the necessary arrangements for the reception of the Com-
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
missioner and his company. No other man could have been so appropriately selected to meet the Commissioner's expectations and aid him in the details of the enterprise.
"Mr. Campau yet survives, an aged gentleman, but with an accurate memory, a fine representative of the better class of early French pioneers; a liberal, public-spirited and worthy citizen. Two Government vessels, laden with stores for the subsistence of those upon the treaty ground, were sent around by Lakes St. Clair
and Huron. One of these was a company of United States soldiers, commanded by Captain Cass, a brother of the General, who had been ordered to the treaty ground for the protection of those in attendance. By the time the Commissioner, with his staff of interpreters, had arrived, Mr. Campau and his employes had constructed the council house. It was spacious and commodi- ous, extending several hundred feet along the bank of the river a few rods back from the shore, and of the requisite width to accom- modate the large number of natives who were expected to be present. Situated nearly between the present site of the Webster House and the river, but several rods farther down on the slight ridge or second rise from the shore, its position was commanding and pleasant. Trees conveniently situated furnished the columns of the council hall, and boughs interlaced above made the roof. The sides and ends were open. It was of an order of architecture not recognized by Ruskin, Downing, Upjohn or any professional writer upon that branch of science. It was doubtless more nearly assimilated to that temple described by the great poet of nature, Bryant, in the opening of his Forest Hymn, -'The groves were God's first temples.' A platform made of logs, faced or evened by the ax, was elevated about a foot above the ground, and broad enough to accommodate company upon rustic benches. Com- missioner Cass and the other officials occupied the central portion of the council room. Huge logs in their native roughness had been rolled in upon the other space to be used as seats by the native lords of the soil when in common council. The bordering woods were dotted witli temporary wigwams, hastily and rudely . built by the natives for the accommodation of themselves and fam- ilies during the pendency of the negotiation.
Among other preparations, temporary but convenient additions to his trading house had been made by Mr. Campau, sufficiently spacious to make a good-sized dining-room for the large number of officials present, and comfortable quarters for the Commissioner. The number of Indians present at the time of his arrival was not as large as was expected. Messengers or runners had been sent among the different bands, some living quite remote from the place of holding the council, to notify them of the proposed treaty, and others out for like purposes after the fact became apparent that some localities were not properly represented. The number present upon the treaty ground on the day when the third council, which was the fullest, was held, has been variously estimated from 1,500 to 4,000. They were mainly Chippewas, but not all.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
There were present some Ottawas of pure and mixed blood, and although in our State papers the parties of the treaty are spoken of as the United States on the one side, and the Chippewa nation on the other, there are the names of chiefs and head men affixed to the treaty who were of Ottawa descent. There were but three regular councils or audiences held during the 10 or 12 days that the negotiations were pending. At such formal councils only the chiefs, warriors, head men and braves were called and admitted into the council hall, although the sides being open and the opportunity for hearing and seeing unimpeded, the Indian women and their children gathered in timid groups close by. They were silent, but by no means disinterested spectators of the solemn negotiations proceeding within, which involved no less than a full and final surrender of the burial places of their fathers, the ancient hunting grounds of their people, the fair and beautiful heritage of forest and corn ground, lake and river.
"At the first council Gen. Cass made known to the natives, through Henry Conner and Whitmore Knaggs, experienced and highly respected Indian traders, and as interpreters most compe- tent, the object of his journey from Detriot and the general purposes of our Government. He endeavored to impress upon them the paternal regard which their 'Great Father' at Wash- ington had for their welfare, and the hope that the peaceful relations which had existed between them since the close of the war should be rendered perpetual. He reminded them of their condition as a people, the swelling of the wave of civilization toward their hunting grounds, the growing scarcity of game, the importance and necessity of turning their attention more to agri- culture and relinquishing the more uncertain modes of living by the chase, and the better condition they would ultimately be in by confining themselves to reservations ample for the purpose of agriculture, to be provided for them by the proposed treaty, and the cession of the residue of the territory then occupied by those who were there represented, upon such terms and guarantees as their condition required, including therein stipulated annuities. He was answered by their chief speaker with a gravity and eloquence peculiar to Indian councils. Three chiefs of high repute acted as speakers for the Indians, who survived for some years after the treaty, and were known to some of the earlier settlers in the valley. Their names were often pronounced by early traders and pioneers differently, and are found in documents with different orthography, but as they appear at the foot of the treaty they are Mish-e-ne-na-non-e-quet, O-ge-maw-ke-ke-to, and also, at the first council, Kish-kaw-ko. At the subsequent councils the latter was not present, except at the last, and then merely to affix his totem to the treaty after it had engrossed for execution. He had put himself out of condition at the close of day by drinking, and remained in a state quite unpresentable as a speaker for the residue of the time. He was an Indian of violent temper, and in excitement of liquor was reckless in the commission of outrage.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
Subsequent to the treaty, after many acts of violence, he was arrested and died in prison at Detroit. He was less dangerous in his wigwam quietly drunk than in the council room tolerably sober.
"The chief speaker, O-ge-maw-ke-ke-to, opposed the proposition made by Commissioner Cass, with indignation. His speech, as remembered by persons still surviving, who were interested listen- ers, was a model of Indian eloquence. He was then quite young, not more than 25 years of age, above the average height, and in his bearing, graceful and handsome. Althoughi in the later years of his life he was often seen intoxicated, he never fully lost a 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, Sa-go-ye-wat-ha (Red Jacket). His band lived at the Forks of the Tittabawassee, and like the famous Seneca chief he wore upon his breast a superb Government medal. He addressed the Commissioner as follows:
"'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. Your people trespass upon our hunting grounds. You flock to our shores. Our waters grow warm; our land melts 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.'
"To this the Commissioner replied with earnestness, reproving the speaker for arrogant assumption, that their Great Father at. Washington had just closed a war in which he had whipped their Father, the English king, and the Indians too; that their lands were forfeited in fact by the rules of war, but that he did not pur- pose to take them without rendering back an equivalent, notwith- standing their late acts of hostility; that their women and children should have secured to them ample tribal reserves on which they could live, unmolested by their white neighbors, where they could spread their blankets and be aided and instructed in agriculture.
"The council for the day closed. The Commissioner with his staff of earnest and devoted assistants, composed of gentlemen distingushed at Indian councils, Whitmore Knaggs, known to the natives as O-ke-day-ben-don, and beloved by them; Henry Conner, known to them as Wah-be-sken-dip, meaning literally white-head, significant of the color of his hair; Col. Beaufait, G. Godfroy sub-agent, John Harson and other gentlemen of deserved influence with the Chippewas, all retired to their lodgings disappointed and anxious, while the chiefs and head-men of the natives retired to their wigwams in sullen dignity, unapproachable and unappeased,
10
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
certainly a very unpropitious opening of the great and important undertaking and trust which Gen. Cass had in hand. The juncture was a critical one, and for a full appreciation of it a brief allusion to the relative status of the two parties becomes pardonable if not necessary. The proposition for a cession of the Indian title came from us, not them. Their possessory control by our uniform recognition and action was as yet perfect. For any lawlessness or vindictive act upon the treaty ground there would have been immunity from immediate punishment and probably ultimate escape. The whites, comparatively, were few in number. The military company on board the schooner, anchored in the stream, was quite inadequate to successful resistance against an organized and general outbreak.
"Sufficient time had not elasped to wash out the bitter memories of border feuds, of fancied or real wrong. Footprints were yet fresh upon the war-path. Indeed, only the fifth summer had passed since that war had closed which had laid low many Chippewa warriors. Onr Commissioner and his staff of assistants had placed themselves voluntarily within their strong hold upon the Saginaw, to which no pale-facc had entered throughout that formidable struggle, unless as pinioned and care-depressed captives, with the exception of the single memorable instance of the daring trader Smith, to rescue from captivity the children of the Boyer family, who had been taken captives with their father from their homes on the Clinton river near Mount Clemens. Here within a half dozen summers previous, they had drilled in martial exercise, trained themselves to warlike feats, and prepared for those deadly excur- sions into our frontier settlements, and for those more formidable engagements where disciplined valor was called upon to breast their wild charge. After the bloody raid, to this valley they looked as to a fastness, and to it returned with their captives and streaming trophies. And here, too, had been for generations their simple altar in the unpruned forests; their festivals, called lyus, without reference to their true significance; their dances, when thanks went up to the Great Spirit for the yearly return of the successive blessings of a fruitful season, following to its source, with direct purpose and thankful hearts, the warm ray which gave to them the trickling sap, which reddened the berry, which embrowned the tassel of the corn and perfected their slender harvest.
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