USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume II > Part 5
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Along the Cass and Flint rivers to their head waters roamed the Onottawas, whose warriors found the forest wilderness a delightful hunting ground. The woods were full of game, the streams teemed with fish, while wild fowl filled the marshy ground or flew high in the trees. Their principal village on the Cass was at the Great Bend, near the present town of Bridge- port, and their camp fires lined the stream to and beyond Tuscola. On the Flint their families, though more scattered, were especially numerous, and they spread over a long stretch of river country. Their largest village was
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
situated on the bluffs - about thirty miles above its mouth, and within the present City of Flint -a spot which was the scene of mortal strife in Indian history.
The Chippewas Wage Savage Warfare
But these friendly tribes, upon whom the Great Spirit had bestowed a hunting ground so plentifully supplied with all the needs and desires of their savage life, were not destined to occupy unmollested this favored country. Far to the north the warlike Chippewas had heard of the Sauks and Onottawas- of the beautiful country and rich hunting grounds they possessed, and they longed to gain them by conquest. The spies and scouts sent out by them returned with glowing accounts of the beautiful rivers and valleys, the abundance of fish and game found there, and told of the unpro- tected and unguarded state of the occupants. They therefore called a council of their tribes and allies, to be held on an island in the straits which connect the lake of the Hurons and the lake of the Illinois ( Lake Michigan). At the appointed time the warriors from the Hurons on the east, the Potawatomies on the south, and the Menomonies on the west gathered at that place, and with solemn deliberation decided to wage relentless warfare on their weaker neighbors toward the south. Accordingly, a savage conflict was soon begun which resulted in the annihilation of the Sauks and their allies.
The traditional accounts of the predatory incursions of the Chippewas, as handed down from generation to generation of their chiefs, was preserved by an early settler who came to this valley in boyhood. In later years, as a furtrader. his associations were chiefly with the Chippewas, whose language became almost as familiar to him as his own. He relates that there were several very old Indians living near the bay, and in 1834 he sought out and questioned one of them, named Putt-a-guas-a-mine, who, though reputed to be more than a hundred years old, still retained his mental faculties. He declared that the unwritten narrative of his tribe had been told and often repeated by his grandfather, who lived to a very old age, and who had received it from his grandfather, in order that the principal events in their history might not be lost.
When asked for these traditions of his race, the old Indian said that the Sauks occupied the whole territory of the Saginaw and its tributaries, ex- tending from the Au Sable River on the north to the head waters of the Shiawassee, on the south. Their main village stood on the west bank of the Saginaw not far from its mouth, from which they frequently sallied forth in warlike incursions on the Chippewas about Thunder Bay. They were also unfriendly to the Potawatomies, who occupied the country southwest of them along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
When the council of the Chippewas and their allies ended they fitted out a large band of warriors, which soon started in birch bark canoes for the main land. They came down the west shore of Lake Huron, and, in order to mask their movements, they stole along the shore of Saginaw Bay at night, and lay concealed in the bushes on shore during the day. At length they arrived at a point about ten miles from the mouth of the river which they called "Pet-obe-gong," where a portion of their band landed, while the remainder crossed the bay under cover of darkness, and landed on the east shore. In the morning, before it was vet day, both bands crept stealthily along the banks of the river, one on each side, to attack and cut off the retreat of their enemy.
While these hostile movements were taking place, a great festival was being held by the Sauks in honor of the young chief "Raven Eve," who had that day been advanced for some daring feat of the chase. A large number
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THE INDIANS OF SAGINAW VALLEY
of warriors from the various villages and camps of the tribe were present. and also a few young Onottawa braves who had been invited to participate in the festivities. The day was a most delightful one in early autumn. The old chiefs threw aside their usual gravity, the young braves their fierceness. and all mingled together in gaiety, song and dance. The dark-eyed Mimi was there, the chieftain's daughter, to whom it was said Raven Eye was bethrothed, one whom many a young warrior would have suffered torture, to have won from her even the tribute of a smile.
Evening came on, soft, still and delightful. The full, harvest moon arose in splendor, and cast its mellow light over the happy scene; and the dim, wild wood around resounded with notes of merriment. It was late when the festival ended, and all of the gay throng, wearied with pleasure. sunk into peaceful, quiet slumber. The night wind sighed through the dark pines in mournful cadence, the guardian spirit of the savage hovered over the sleepers, with its low death chant, yet its warning notes were unheard : the sleepers slept on. Suddenly a wild, unearthly yell broke fearfully upon the still night, and awakened a thousand echoes. Aroused by it, the Sauks sprang to their feet. bewildered and dismayed, and were met by the fierce Chippewas, who commenced an indiscriminate slaughter. Some were toma- hawked - women and children, and aged warriors too feeble to raise an arm in defense, not being spared - while some leaped into the river and were drowned. Others, more agile and fleet of foot. escaped and took their families, or what remained of them, across the river. On some high ground (at Portsmouth) they attempted to fortify themselves, believing that the enemy would follow up their conquest.
Battle of Skull Island
The whole valley of the Saginaw was now in a state of wild commotion and fear, as it was known that the Chippewas had commenced a bloody war of extermination. Their band that had crept up the east side of the river. seeing the defenseless condition of the Sauks, soon came up, and a fearful and desperate battle took place. Human bones of those killed in the fight may still be found in this hill. The Sauks were again defeated at this place. but the remnants of their once happy and contented band recrossed the river at night. and retreated to an island near the mouth of a small stream, which was afterward named Cheboyganing Creek. Although the land was low and marshy they here felt secure from attack, as their enemies had no canoes in the river; and they proceeded to fortify themselves. But soon after the river froze over with ice thick enough for the allies to cross, which they did in overwhelming numbers, and another massacre ensued. In the end the Sauks on the lower river were practically exterminated, only twelve squaws being spared. On account of the great quantity of skulls and bones found there in later years, the place was called Skull Island.
The Chippewas and their allies then proceeded up the river to its head. where they divided their band, some warriors going up the Cass, some up the Flint, while others went up the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee and their tributaries. All the straggling bands of their enemies were located and every member of them put to death, leaving none to contend with them as to the possession of this hunting ground. The fiercest battle probably was fought on the bluffs of the Flint, at the village of the Sauks, in the present City of Flint, in which, tradition says, a reinforcement of their allies came from the vicinity of Detroit and met them. Mounds filled with bones scattered indiscriminately, indicating that the bodies had been buried hurriedly after a battle, can be located at this place even to this day. The waring Indians then came down the Flint and fought another battle on a
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دشـ
سيا
SEMI-CIVILIZED INDIANS OF SAGINAW IN THE '60's
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THE INDIANS OF SAGINAW VALLEY
bluff one mile above the present town of Flushing, where mounds filled with bones still exist ; and soon after exterminated a small remnant of the Sauks at a point sixteen miles below, where fifty years ago the farm of James McCormick was located.
On the Cass River the allies came upon the principal village of the Sauks at the Great Bend, near Bridgeport, the inhabitants of which they captured and put to death. A small ridge, or earthwork, supposed to have been their rude fortification, was plainly to be seen here as late as 1830. The next important battle was fought on the Tittabawassee on ground just below the farm on which James Frazer settled when he came to the valley as one of its early pioneers.
Having completed their bloody work of conquest, with the extermination of the Sauks, excepting the twelve squaws spared from the massacre on the lower river, a council of the allies was held to determine the fate of the survivors. Some of the warrior chiefs were bent on torturing them to death, others wanted to spare their lives and set them free to go wherever they pleased, while still others advised sending them far away beyond the "Great River." At last it was decided to place them among the Sioux ; and a compact was made with that warlike nation that the tribes should not molest them, but offer them protection, an agreement which, according to tradition, was faithfully kept.
Having assured themselves that they were indeed sole masters of the beautiful valley of the Saginaw, the Chippewas set about making prepara- tions for a permanent stay there, at least as far as their disposition would admit. Their lodges soon rose from the ruins of the Sauk and Onottawa villages, and maize waved over the graves of the disinherited possessors of the soil. The Chippewa hunter pursued the wild wolf and deer through the hunting grounds of the Sauks without fear of interruption, and made his camp beneath the very trees where they had often reveled, or met in council. Many Indians who came to this valley. however, never returned to their tribes, nor were they ever after heard of, occurrences which filled their relations with deep dread and fear. At length it became a firmly fixed belief among them that the spirits of the dead Sauks still haunted their favorite hunting grounds, and took the lives of their enemies. It may have been that a few Sauks escaped the massacres, and still lingered around the camps, watching for straggling hunters and killing them whenever an opportunity offered.
Years rolled on and the invaders grew in strength and power, and in the pride of their hearts boasted of their conquests, and vainly defied thie Great Spirit. For a long time the Great Spirit bore with them ; but a day of reckoning was hastening on. The pale faces came, bringing with them the seeds of discontent and strife, which they scattered broadcast through the valley of the Saginaw. They taught the Indians to quaff the deadly fire-water, and to curse and vell in tolerable English. The rich hunting grounds, which their forefathers had wrenched so fiercely from the defense- less Sauks, passed from their hands: and villages sprang up where the Chippewas had often tracked the bear and the elk.
Many long years had elapsed since their ancestors had so wrongfully taken possession of the favored land, and sent the lonely and friendless squaws far away among strange tribes. The Great Spirit had, however. watched over them and directed their course in their new found home toward the setting sun.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
A Ghost of the Sauks
One day the Chippewas in camp at the head of the Saginaw were sur- prised to receive a visit from a strange Indian, whose dialect and dress differed from their own. By signs he made them understand that he came from a powerful tribe of Sauks, which lived many miles away in the west, where game was found in great abundance, and in whose rivers and lakes all kinds of fish abounded. He also told them that his tribe had not for- gotten the great wrong that his ancestors had suffered from the hands of the Chippewas, and that they burned for an opportunity to avenge the murdered of his race. He had come, he said, to tell them that, although his tribe did not hope to reclaim their lost hunting ground, in an hour when their enemies least expected it, the avenging warriors would be upon them. After singing a wild, exciting song in his own tongue, and giving a fearful parting whoop, he bounded into the depth of the forest like a wild deer, and disappeared, leaving his hearers in a state of consternation and alarm.
At intervals, since this event, the Chippewas received mysterious visita- tions of the spirit of the departed Sauks. Sometimes during sugar making, they would be seized with a sudden panic, and leave everything - their kettles of boiling sap, the mokuks of sugar standing in their camp, their ponies tethered in the woods, and flee to their canoes as though pursued by their ancient enemy. Not unfrequently opportunity would be taken of the stampede, by some bad Indians or stragglers, to rob the poor savages of what little they possessed. This led to the firm belief among them, upon cautiously returning and finding their camp despoiled, that the Great Spirit was visiting the sins of their forefathers upon them.
An old Indian chief, named "Tong-do-gong," who died in 1840, toll many times of having killed a Sauk while hunting when a boy. This hap- pened probably about the year 1785, and as a result the Indians on the Saginaw to within fifty years ago still believed that there was a Sauk lurking in the vicinity of their camps. They had seen the place, they said, where he had made his fires and slept. For days at a time they would keep together in bands, and not leave their camp to hunt because they believed there was a Sauk in the neighboring woods, for some one of their band had seen where he had slept. Nothing could disillusion them of this fearsome belief.
Shop-en-a-gons' Account
Other old Indians, who clearly remembered the traditions of their race, as handed down from their grandfathers, related at different times the same story of the extermination of the Sauks, varying only in unimportant details which could have no bearing on the fact. Later old chief Shop-en-a-gons. who was so well known to some of our citizens of today, and who passed to his happy hunting grounds in December, 1911, told substantially the same narrative. In his account. however, as related in his ninetieth year, his tribe. which occupied the country north of the Au Sable River, had suffered grievous wrongs from straggling bands of the Sauks. Their camps had been pillaged during their absence on the hunt, and their women and children had been abused. These crimes they had borne patiently for several years. when, at the outbreak of the whole Chippewa nation, they gladly joined in the savage warfare. The band to which his tribe belonged, he said, crossed the Au Sable to the head waters of the Tittabawassee, which they followed to the various camps of the enemy, slaying them at every hand. On the bluffs of the river (at Paines) near its mouth, they fought a fierce battle in which the Sauks were all killed and their camp laid waste. They then
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joined another band in their incursions up the Flint River, and participated in further battles on that stream. The memory of this old and friendly chief was generally very clear regarding the unwritten history of his race, but, like other merely traditional history, should be taken as probable rather than as actual facts.
Legend of the Lone Tree
Among the interesting legends told by Indian chiefs of the Saginaws, is one concerning a lone tree which once stood on the east side of the river. above Portsmouth. Alone and isolated on the broad prairie, it stood majestic in its loneliness : and a spirit of romance lingered about it - a whisper of past mysteries breathed through its spreading branches. A peculiar interest was imparted to it from its having been for years the abode of a white owl. whose dismal screeches fell mournfully on the night.
The Indians had a great reverence for this tree, and believed that its occupant was a spirit-bird, or guardian spirit, of a dead warrior. The spirit- bird. they said, sometimes personifies a dove, sometimes an eagle, or other species according to the disposition of the deceased. A fearless, ambitions. and untamed warrior's spirit-bird is an eagle: a blood-thirsty chieftain's spirit-bird is a hawk, while the friends of a gentle maiden who has passed to the spirit land, know that she is hovering near them when they hear the cooing notes of a turtle dove at morn or at eve.
Many years ago, before the coming of the white man to this hunting ground, so the legend runs, Ke-wah-ke-won, a noble chieftain of the Chip- pewas, ruled his people with love and kindness. He was a patriarch among them, and greatly beloved for his gentleness, forebearance, and the millness of his rule. He had been a great warrior in his day, but his youth had departed, and the languid pulse and feeble footstep told, only too plainly. that he would soon pass to the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit. The good old chieftain felt that he was about to die, and was desirous of once more seeing his tribes in council, and of bestowing upon them his last bless- ing. Around him quickly gathered, in mournful silence, all of his beloved people, eager to catch the last words of admonition from the lips of their dying chief - forming a melancholy death scene in the wilderness. At length the old man spoke, while the fire of his youth seemed rekindled in his dim eye, and his voice, though weak, was calm and clear.
"My children," said he, "the Great Spirit has called me, and I must obey the summons. Already is the tomahawk raised to sever the last cord 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 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 Great Spirit beckons me, and I must hasten. Let my body be laid in a quiet spot in 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 - Farewell."
They buried him in a lonely spot in the wide plain, near the beautiful river, with his face toward the rising sun ; and was never disturbed by bird or beast, for 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 for protection. while the great white owl - the spirit-bird sent to watch over it - came and
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
took possession. Though the tree has long since fallen before the woodman's axe, yet the spot upon which it stood has often been pointed out, and where sleeps Ke-wah-ke-won, the beloved chieftain of his race.
Nay-o-kee-man and Pau-pem-is-kobe
Long years ago on the banks of the Flint, fifty miles from Saginaw. there could be seen a small mound under the branches of a large oak. A Chippewa hunter, named Pet-e-bon-a-qua. in passing there one day stopped to rest, and upon being questioned about it said that, before the pale faces invaded his country, two braves had engaged in mortal combat upon that spot, and that one brave warrior slept beneath the mound. One of these. named Pau-pem-is-kobe, was the favored suitor of the beautiful daughter of a mighty brave, and this had enraged the fierce Nay-o-kee-man, who was also enamored of the dusky-eyed maiden.
One day the two young warriors came together in the forest, and words of anger passed between them. Nay-o-kee-man nursed his wrath and some time later while hunting he saw his hated rival in the woods. Secreting himself he laid in wait. As Pau-pem-is-kobe passed in the narrow trail, the whizzing of a tomahawk warned him of an unseen foe. With characteristic agility he sprang for cover, but so true was the aim of the skillful Nay-o- kee-man that he received a slight scalp wound. For some time there was the usual dodging and feinting, each trying to get the advantage of the other.
At length the assailant exposed his person unguardedly for an instant, when an arrow from the stout bow of Pau-pem-is-kobe struck him in the neck. Seeing that his foe was partially disabled, Pau-pem-is-kobe then rushed out to finish him ; but the latter was still in fighting trim. As the two braves closed both drew their long hunting knives, and a death to death struggle ensued. Nay-o-kee-man was the more powerful of the two, and, though badly wounded. he finally succeeded in thrusting his knife into the vitals of his antagonist, thus sending him to the happy hunting grounds. The victor, fearing the wrath of his tribe, fled to another part of the territory. while the spirit of the dead Pau-pem-is-kobe haunted the spot where his life went out.
Retributive Justice of the Savage
In one of the revels at the camp of the Chippewas on the Saginaw, an Indian who had quaffed too freely of the white man's "fire-water," killed his squaw, and in order to conceal the crime threw her body into the fire. After- ward recovering from his drunken stupor, he realized that the signs of his guilt were still present, so he fled and took refuge in the camp of the Ottawas near by. The charred remains of the poor squaw were discovered soon after. the absence of the Indian noticed, and the cry for revenge was raised. The avengers pursued the culprit to the campfire of their neighbors, and in solemn council doomed him to the death which in the stern old Indian code was reserved for those who shed the blood of their kin. It was a slow torturing, cruel death. Placing a hatchet in the victim's hand, they led him to a large log that was partially hollow and forced him to dig it out still more so as to admit his body. This done he was taken back and tied to a tree.
While the executioners smoked, and drank fire-water, evening came on, and they kindled fires about him. Then commenced the orgies peculiar to the savage on such occasions. They danced and sang in their wild, exciting manner, chanting the dirge of the recreant brave. The arrow was fitted to the ready bow-string, and often, with its shrill twang, it was sent into his quivering flesh ; and to heighten his misery his nose and ears were cut off. The night passed in this fiendish manner, the victim still bound to the tree.
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bearing his punishment with a stoicism which nothing mortal could shake. Seven long and weary hours after did he stand there, enduring the most cruel torture, before his proud head dropped upon his breast, and his spirit passed to the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit.
Then they took the mutilated body, wrapped it in a clean blanket, and placed it in the log coffin the victim had helped to hollow. His hunting knife was placed by his side that he might have some means of defense, his bottle of "fire-water" and his pipe and tobacco that he might find cheer on his long journey. The cover was then put on, stakes were driven on each side of the log, and the space filled with earth and brush. The murdered squaw was avenged by this stern act of retributive justice, and quiet reigned over the forest once more.
O-ke-mos
"Old" O-ke-mos, a nephew of Pontiac and once the chief of the Chip- pewas, was born on the upper waters of the Shiawassee, at a date unknown. The earliest account of him is that he took the warpath in 1796; and he was active in the battle of Sandusky, in 1803, which gave him his chieftainship and caused him to be revered by his tribe. Afterward he settled with his people on the banks of the Shiawassee, near the place of his birth, where for many years he engaged in hunting, fishing, and trading with the white men. In 1837, when small-pox broke out in his tribe, their families became scattered. and the sound of the tom-tom at council fires and village feasts, were heard no more along the pleasant river.
O-ke-mos then became a mendicant, and many a hearty meal did he receive from his friends among the whites. He was only five feet four inches in height, but was lithe, wiry, and active, with the usual amount of Indian intelligence, and possessed bravery ; but in conversation he hesitated and mumbled his words. Before the breaking up of his tribe his dress consisted of a blanket coat, with belt, steel pipe, hatchet, tomahawk, and a heavy, long, English hunting knife, with a large bone handle, stuck in the front of his belt. He painted his cheeks and forehead with vermillion, wore a shawl around his head in turban fashion, and covered his legs with leggings.
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