USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume II > Part 3
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Ancient Fortifications Discovered
Other interesting earth-works in this State are the pre-historic forts in Macomb County, which were discovered by the early settlers along and near to the north branch of the Clinton River. Mounds of earth and stone were first noticed and evidences of once cultivated lands of considerable area, but when three structures enclosing from one to three acres of ground were found, there was much speculation as to what purpose they were designed to subserve. The Indians living in the vicinity had no traditions of their origin or by whom constructed; all was garbed in mystery. Except for the ravages of time these ancient remains were in the same condition as when left by a once industrious race. The native forests had covered these works, trees of large size were growing in the areas, in the ditch, and on the embankment. The earth had been thrown up into a ridge several feet wide
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
at the base, and about four feet in height from the bottom of the trench ; and there were gateways or openings, ten, twelve and fifteen feet in width, in the embankments.
Surveys of these ancient structures were made as early as 1827 or 1828, before the axman had cleared the ground or the plow disturbed their out- lines. The embankment of the north fort measured very nearly eight hun- dred feet in length, including the openings; and flat land to the southward showed signs of cultivation. A few rods to the east was a large circular mound of a height to overlook a considerable stretch of country ; and a small brook flowed southeasterly near its south border.
In a direct line, some three miles to the southeast, was the large or cen- tral fort, situated on elevated ground on the right bank of the river. This enclosure was twelve hundred and sixty-eight feet in circumference, and had an area of more than three acres, aside from a wing wall two hundred feet in length. Within the area was a small pond evidently to supply water to the garrison. Three openings in the embankment led across a wide ditch to lower ground, and were protected by small mounds within to shut off from without all view of the interior. Between this fort and the stream were a number of graves in an irregular cluster, each of which contained a single skeleton : and below was a large mound surrounded by small ones in the form of a circle. The embankments may have been crowned with pali- sades, and the interior mounds served for observation, as well as for defense. A large quantity of broken pottery and other relics found seem to indicate a large population in the vicinity.
About a mile and a half to the southwest was found the third fort having a circumference of eight hundred and seventy feet. This structure had four openings, two of twelve, one of fifteen, and a large one of eighty feet, which may have been an uncompleted wall, near which were extensive mounds and areas of once cultivated ground. The erection of such extensive embank- ments, without the aid of any tools with which we are accustomed, must have required thousands of workers for a considerable period of time.
At Climax, in Kalamazoo County, are the remains of a pre-historic for- tification which occupied the crest of a knoll - the highest ground for miles around. When the first settlements were made in this section in 1831, the knoll was covered with oak trees of good size, and the open country showed everywhere the evidences of former cultivation. Numerous mounds were found near by, some of which contained bones and other human relics. Around the summit of the knoll was a ditch two or three feet deep and ten or twelve feet wide, with earth banked up along its sides, making it very easily traced. Its form was that of a perfect ellipse, enclosing one and three- tenths of the summit of the hill : and its longest diameter was three hundred and thirty feet. On the Rifle River, in Ogemaw County, and in Gilead, Branch County, are other so called fortifications, with numerous earth-works in the vicinity of the former, some of which are still undisturbed by excavations.
Unique "Garden Beds" Found
In the valleys of the St. Joseph and Grand Rivers, lying principally in the counties of Cass, Kalamazoo and St. Joseph, were found in the early days of settlement some very peculiar works of the Mound-Builders, of unknown age and origin, which have received the name of "Garden Beds." They were discovered by Verandrier, who, with several French associates, explored this region in 1748; and wrote that they were "large tracts free from wood, many of which are everywhere covered with furrows, as if they had formerly been plowed and sown." Schoolcraft, in writing of his obser- vations made in 1827, recorded the fact that "garden beds, and not the
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PRE-HISTORIC RACES
mounds, form the most prominent, and, by far, the most striking and char- acteristic antiquarian monuments of this district of country." These relics constitute a unique feature of our antiquities, and are of especial interest to us, since they are confined to our State.
The garden beds occupied the most fertile of the prairie land and burr- oak plains, and consisted of raised patches of ground, separated by sunken paths, and were generally arranged in plats or blocks of parallel rows. These varied in dimensions, being from five to sixteen feet in width, from twelve to more than a hundred feet in length, and from six to eighteen inches in height. There was much diversity of arrangement of the plats, some being in groups of two or more at right-angles to the adjacent plats; others in blocks and single beds of varying angles, having paths of the same width as the rows, and others with narrow paths, while some of the rows terminated with semi-circular heads. Wheel-shaped plats, consisting of a circular bed, with beds of uniform shape and size radiating therefrom, all separated by narrow paths, formed the most curious gardens of all.
2-10
2617
PRIMITIVE ARROW-POINTS [from the Dustin collection]
Flint, agate and chalcedory brads (one-third natural size) Top row, common forms; Middle and bottom rows, eccentric forms.
The tough sod of the prairie had preserved very sharply all the outlines of the beds; and it was the universal testimony of the pioneers that these gardens were laid out and fashioned with a skill, order and symmetry which distinguish them from the ordinary operations of agriculture pursued by the Indians. On this point Foster observes, that, "they certainly indicate a methodical cultivation which was not practiced by the red men." The principal crop of the Indians is maize, and this was never cultivated by them in rows, but in hills, often large, but always in a very irregular manner. Nor do these beds resemble the deserted fields of modern agriculture, but rather suggest the well-laid out garden of our own day, while the curvilinear forms point quite as strongly to the modern "pleasure garden."
These extensive indications of ancient culture necessarily imply a settled and populous community, although evidences of the numbers and character of the people are almost entirely wanting. Scarcely any of the usual ab- original relics are found; no pottery; no spear and arrow heads; no im- plements of stone; not even the omnipresent pipe. Burial mounds are not uncommon in Western Michigan, but such as are found have no recognized
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IHISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
association with the race which cultivated these garden beds. It is probable that they were a people of peaceable disposition, of laborious habits; and that they lived in simple and patriarchal style, subsisting on the fruits of the earth, rather than by the chase. Their dwellings and their tools were of wood, and have perished ; and the simple record of their labors is all, it may be, that will ever be known. It seems strange, indeed, that these garden beds, suggestive as they are, should be the only memorials of a race which left such an evidence of advanced agriculture, and was worthy of more endur- ing monuments.
Village Sites in Saginaw County
The entire territory draining into Saginaw River and along the shore of Saginaw Bay is rich in traces of a considerable habitation by pre-historic man. Village and camp sites, burial mounds, workshops where implements were made, pits for the storage of provisions, and caches or hoards of blades, have been discovered in this section, while the surface is strewn with various ob- jects made or used by the aborigines long before the advent of white men. Village sites and mounds occur on both sides of the river, from its mouth to its source, and on its tributaries, and are located at frequent intervals, often less than a mile apart.
From close observation of these remains of a primitive people it is evi- dent that their villages and camps were more numerous than the cities, vil- lages and hamlets of today, though the actual population was small compared with the present. During the hunting season they roamed over a large territory, moving their camps from place to place; but in winter and spring they always resorted to their home villages, the permanence of which is attested by the great quantities of camp refuse, the numerous skeletal re- mains, and the large number of implements and weapons continually being brought to light. Every stream was dotted with permanent villages whose camp fires glistened on its surface, and which was traced by countless canoes.
On the lower river the first village to be noted was at Crow Island, which derived its name from the individual reserve of Kaw-kaw-is-kou, or the Crow. Directly across the river on the prairie was another settlement, where the remains of corn fields were to be seen years ago, and then known as the Melbourne Fields. Four miles up the river on the cast bank, at a place called Te-waw-baw-king, or "hickory place," where a ridge extended south from a point where the Federal Building now stands, many unmistakable signs of primitive life were once plainly discernable. Another ridge, now designated as "The Grove," extending from the City Hall to the Belt Line tracks, was once the location of an ancient village, of which the remains are extremely numerous. South of the East Side Water Works to the forks of the river are evidences of a long-continued habitation of an extinct race. Many relics have been gathered at this place, which has been named the Mowbray Village.
On the west bank, village remains have been noted from near where Bristol Street crosses the river, all the way to Shows-ko-kon, or Green Point, and many relics recovered in the past attest to the favor in which this loca- tion was held. At the confluence of the rivers the aborigines held their dances and corn feasts, and their camps stretched for more than a mile along the Tittabawassee, which for untold generations was a favorite dwelling place of the ancient race. Along its banks a number of fire-places have been discovered, buried under four feet of hard-packed sand which it is certain was not deposited in historic times. On the low land near Cass Cut and on a cleared field a mile above are to be found positive evidences of village life, while at the cast approach of the Michigan Central Railroad bridge were the Andrews Workshops. Nearly opposite, near the home of the late A. B.
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PRE-HISTORIC RACES
2-9%
62-18
LEAF-SHAPED BLADES
[from the Dustin collection]
Symmetrical forms (about one-third natural size) of unfinished implements, mostly arrow points, found on village sites in Saginaw County,
$248
2-18
ARROW AND SPEAR POINTS [from the Dustin collection]
Fine specimens of ancient handiwork (about three-fourths actual size) in symmetrical forms. The large implement was probably used as a knife.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
Paine, and half a mile west on the high sand bluff, at the Frazer homestead, were once the camps of a forgotten people. Further up the Tittabawassee, on the farm of E. R. McCarty, at Ure's Island, and near the homestead of the late William Hackett were aboriginal camps, while at Freeland was the reservation of Black Birds' Village, which contained six thousand acres.
On the Shiawassee River at Bear Creek is one of two settlements in the county still inhabited by red skins: and at Chesaning are extensive remains of a large village on the high bluffs on the west bank of the stream, while another great camp was on the east side. Near Oakley is one of the ancient lake beaches, and on a bluff the evidences of a large settlement may still be traced. At the intersection of the branches of the Bad River, in St. Charles, numerous remains indicating a large village have been found, and the high south bank of Beaver Creek has yielded some interesting relics. On Swan Creek, at a point a mile below the railroad bridge, the ground was once strewn with curious remains, and east of it were a number of smaller camps.
The Cass River is noted for its pre-historic remains at and above Bridge- port, the Andross Village yielding many valuable relics, while at Cook's Corners and at Frankenmuth large settlements were located. On the Flint, and on Misteguay Creek, a tributary, interesting evidences of primitive life have been uncovered by the plow : and near Fosters' are the remains of a vil- lage where a large copper knife was discovered. At Taymouth is the other village of the red skins, consisting of about sixty persons.
Mounds and Ancient Relics.
To Harlan 1. Smith, a native of Saginaw and an archaeologist of note, must credit be given for having explored many of these village sites and earth-works, and having called attention to the remains discovered. In the East Side High School there is an interesting collection of ancient specimens which he brought together, with various notes, maps and photographs, and which it is hoped will some day, not far distant, form the foundation of a local museum which would be of great value to students generally and to posterity.
It was Mr. Smith who first discovered the group of mounds situated in the City of Saginaw, on what is now a part of Rust Park. The first mound seen by him, in 1889, was not large, but was a very typical example of the earth structures of the valley. It was about thirty-four feet in diameter and eighteen inches in height, although it was evident that it had once been much higher, having since been slowly reduced by natural forces. At the time its character was discovered it was covered with grass and flowers, and had much the appearance of a neglected flower bed. As the land in the vicinity was then occupied by a lumber yard and the location likely to be encroached upon by public improvements, he deemed it advisable to explore the mound : and the relics obtained, together with a photograph of the mound, were care- fully preserved. The remains consisted of implements of defense, such as arrow and spear heads, knives and stone hatchets, utensils for domestic use, and culinary refuse in general.
Some time after, workmen, while digging for the foundation of a salt block on the premises, about three hundred feet west of the mound and about one hundred and eighty feet from the bank of the bayou, came upon a num- ber of human skeletons. The mound within which they lay was the largest and highest of the group, being about sixty feet in diameter and three feet in height : but owing to its being covered with a rank growth of shrubs, which also surrounded it, its true character was not realized and all the remains were ruthlessly destroyed, none being saved for science in their entirety. They were at the unusual depth of four feet, which possibly was due to the accum-
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PRE-HISTORIC RACES
ulation of soil above the old surface, by the piling up of the light sand in long dunes, as had been done in the vicinity, by the wind. In these graves bear teeth, deer bones, and remains of other wild animals were found in abund- ance. From the large quantity of fish bones unearthed, one might conclude that the ancient people took advantage of the resources of this locality, and that much of their subsistence was obtained from its waters. Soon after this discovery Court Street was extended through the northern end of the prop- erty partially obscuring the site.
Early in 1910 Mr. Fred Dustin, to whom science is indebted for exhaus- tive research of pre-historic remains in Saginaw County, made a rough sur- vey of this locality from which he prepared blue prints accurately locating the several mounds. From his detailed description of these earth-works, to which he gave appropriate names, and which were officially adopted by the Park and Cemetery Board, there appear to be four mounds in the group. The first, which he has designated as Chippewa Mound, was recognized as being of ancient origin ten or twelve years ago, and the attention of the publie was called to it. A sugar maple tree, about four feet in circumference, stands on the apex of this dome-shaped mound, which is about two hundred and fifty feet east from the shore of Lake Linton, and fifty feet south of the south curb of Court Street. In the fall of 1908, while grading the slopes to the street in Rust Park, its original form was inadvertently destroyed, a por- tion of it being leveled cutting a foot from its height. and revealing its secrets. The ridge at this point is alternate layers of sand, gravel and clay. the mound being of gravelly sand resting upon heavy clay, and is about fifty feet in diameter. Mr. Dustin carefully examined this mound and deter- mined the bones unearthed to be human remains: and added many relics and implements to his collection.
About one hundred feet southwest from the center of Chippewa Mound stand three oak trees nearly in line with the center of the large mound which Harlan I. Smith mentioned in his description several years before. It is now partly covered with a dense growth of sumac bushes and other shrubs, but its western edge still shows where it was cut away for the foundation of the salt block erected on its site in the early nineties. It has been named Ash-a-tah-ne Mound, after the abbreviated name of a full-blooded Indian - a relative of the noted Chippewa chief, O-saw-wah-bon.
The third mound is near the intersection of Court Street and Washing- ton Avenue, and was fully described by Mr. Smith as the one he first dis- covered, and has been named after him. Close by the Smith Mound is the fourth mound of the group. and is slightly larger than the other being about forty feet in diameter and two feet high. It was first observed by Mr. Dustin nearly twenty years ago, marked by a large bitternut hickory tree, and has been named Saug-e-nah Mound after the Chippewa word from which the name "Saginaw" is derived.
At the mouth of the Tittabawassee, on the favorite camping ground of the aborigines, called Shows-ko-kon or Green Point, are two very large mounds which were first observed by W. R. McCormick in 1836, and named Green Point Mounds. They are situated about three-fourths of a mile east of Riverside Park and five hundred and fifty feet north of the river, on very low ground subject every spring to overflow. When opened many years ago the whole interior appeared to be a whitish substance, evidently of decom- posed human bones, which, owing to the lowness of the land and flooding by the river, had crumbled away much sooner than elsewhere. These mounds were examined and photographed by Mr. Smith, who also described them in his notes on archaeological remains of the valley. The larger or western mound is about one hundred feet in diameter and three and a half feet high,
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IHISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
while the smaller, the base of which is twenty feet east of the other, is about ninety feet in diameter and four feet high. It is probable that originally they were at least five feet in height, but being composed of loam mixed with the clay wash from the flood waters, the erosion in time of overflow must have been considerable.
In July, 1910, Mr. Dustin made a careful surface exploration of these mounds, and collected fourteen human teeth, three perfect and two mutilated arrow heads, two bear's teeth, numerous flakes of flint, all of ancient origin, and also a rudely moulded musket ball, a small flat silver ring and one blue glass bead, of European origin but of use by the savages. On August 30 of the same year he had a trench dug, commencing at the northern edge of the east mound and running to the center due south by compass, about eighteen inches wide down to the original surface of the ground. As each shovelful of earth was removed he examined it carefully, but no human remains in
GREEN POINT MOUNDS [from Photograph by Harlan 1. Smith]
These mounds are situated near Riverside Park, and were first described by W. R. McCormick in 1836. They are so old that all skeletal remains have long since crumbled into dust.
entirety, or even a perfect bone, were found, nor were any implements or relics brought to light. It is his belief that the bits of skull thrown out be- longed to successive generations, the remains of which were disturbed by repeated burials and the implements removed or scattered. Having care- lully refilled the trench, the exploration of the second or larger mound was begun by digging a trench west from its eastern edge; and a hole was also sunk in the center of the mound. The results were as meagre as from the first trench, the only interesting find being the crumbling remains of a baby's lower jaw with some of the tiny milk-teeth still clinging to it, and which was returned to its resting place and carefully covered. From the surface of this mound many fragments of pottery and a number of human teeth were picked up.
A few years before on the south edge of the east mound, the skeleton of a squaw was turned up by the plow. The remains had evidently been clothed in a rich robe of European manufacture, the front being covered with ornaments consisting of thin silver rings, bosses and scrolls, sewed on in regular patterns. Around the neck were masses of beads, of various colors, both large and small, the former being strung into necklaces, while the small ones had evidently been used in embroidery. At the side of the
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PRE-HISTORIC RACES
skeleton lay a rude iron tomahawk of the pattern furnished the savages two or three hundred years ago by the fur traders; and a small copper kettle, a glass bottle and other trinkets were unearthed.
At a point four miles up the Tittabawassee, on the land which James Fraser settled when he came to the valley, was once a large mound thought to have originally been more than a hundred feet in diameter and five or six feet in height. It was situated on a large knoll where the river washes a high bank which had gradually been cut way by the spring floods and ice, so that human bones were exposed and fell into the river. In former times a brick yard was in operation at the foot of the knoll, and the clear sand of the mound was removed by the cart load, the fragmentary bones being cast aside in heaps, and the relics and im- plements of a by-gone race of men col- lected by the hundred. It is believed that this mound was the burial place of many generations of pre-historic man, long antedating interments of the savages, for the bones found were in all stages of decay. This mound has long since been entirely destroyed and its site obseured.
[Courtesy of American Museum of Natural History, New York]
THE ANDROSS URN
A rare specimen of ancient pottery un- earthed in the Village of Bridgeport. Orig- inally was about two feet in height.
AAbout six miles from Saginaw, at the bend of the Cass River in the Vil- lage of Bridgeport, several mounds have been discovered, one of which rested on a high sand knoll between the cemetery and the electric power house. This mound was not promi- nent, as it had many times been dis- turbed by the plow, but curious and interesting relies have been uncovered, among them several bird stones or gor- gets beautifully finished, one of which represented an otter. A pottery urn, of peculiar interest, is three feet nine inches in circumference, and must orig- inally have been over two feet in height ; and was named the Andross Urn. It was found inverted over the head of a skeleton, and was well pre- served for so large a pot, and one from a locality where nature does not favor archaeologic specimens, but rather sends frosts and moisture among other elements to do them damage. As late as April, 1912, a fragment about
fifteen inches wide and twenty-four inches high, of a piece of pottery, was recovered here by Mr. Dustin. Many skeletons were removed from this mound, mostly in an advanced state of decay.
It was said by the old fur traders that when they first penetrated this wilderness, there was also a regular earth-work fortification, comprising several acres in extent, below the hill about where the center of the village now is. The Indians then living in the neighborhood told them that these earth-works had been built by another race of men long before they came here, and that they were more like the "pale faces," and they made kettles and dishes of clay. However this may have been, civilization has now
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