History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 23

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.. > Part 23

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THE MIAMIS AND POTTAWATOMIES.

Western Ohio. Southern Michigan and the country now comprised in the State of Indiana. were once in possession of the Miamis, one of the branches of the powerful Algonquin tribe, that interposed between the tribes of the Six Nations of the northern lake shores and the Mobilian tribes of the Atlantic slopes. Their claim to this territory was proven in the great conclave at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, immediately prior to entering into the treaty. On that occasion. Machi- kinaqua. a chief and orator of the Miamis, addressing Gen. Wayne, said. " My forefather kindled the first fires at Detroit ; thence be extended his lines from the head-waters of the Scioto River ; thence to its mouth ; thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash : thence to Chicago and Lake Michigan ; these are the boundaries wherein the prints of my ancestors' houses are every. where to be seen." Historians have acknowledged the truth and claim of the Miami chief, con- firming many of his statements regarding other peoples inhabiting his territory. The Delaware Indians driven before the incoming European colonists ; the Shawanoes from the south forced to move northward by the Aztees of the southwest or the Mobilians of the southeast, and the Otehip- wes and Pottawatomies of the northern regions Lago, an Indian chief, referring to the immi gration of the latter, maintained that a very long time since the Great Spirit sent upon the Potta- watomies a severe winter, and they came over the hard water of Lake Michigan and asked the privilege of hunting until spring : that the Miamis granted it ; that they returned home in the spring. and the next winter came back, and would never return to Lake Superior again.

THE MICRONS

This tribe of Indians was also called Wyandots. They were dispersed by the Iroquois in 16 19. A fragment of the Hurons settled at Detroit in 1680. The phrase " Quelles hures " (what heads) was applied by an astonished French traveler to the Wyandots on seeing their fantastic mode of dressing the hair. From hures was derived Huron. After the departure of dean Nicolet from their territory, now bounded south by Lambton County in Canada, and north by French River and Lake Nipissing, those savages were attacked by the bloodthirsty Iroquois, and driven to new hunting- grounds -some finding a home in Michigan, others in Wisconsin.

Early in the spring of 1712, a number of Foxes and Mascoutins oncamped close to the fort at Detroit, hokling the country along the St. Clair in check. This post was commanded by M Du- buisson. His garrison numbered only thirty French soldiers. The Foxes and their allies, the Mas- coutins, soon became insolent, calling themselves owners of all the country. It seems to have been a plan laid by them to burn the fort, but their purpose was communicated to the commandant by a friendly Fox. An express was immediately sent to the hunting grounds of the Ottawas and Hurons by Dubuisson for aid. The Chippewas and another tribe, upon the other side of the lake. were invited to join with him in defending his post. The commandant took such measures of de- fense as his limited force would permit. On the 13th of May, he was re-enforced by seven or eight Frenchmen. Happily other aid arrived -quite a number of Indians from various nations around. who, joining the Hurons, entered the fort to assist in defending it. This brought matters to a crisis, and firing commenced between the besiegers and the besieged. With undaunted courage. Dubuisson for nineteen days continued to defend his post. The assailants were finally obliged to retreat, their provisions becoming exhausted. Some of the Frenchmen, with the Indians, soon started in pursuit, overtaking the enemy near St. Clair, where they had erected intrenchments. They held their position for four days, fighting with much courage, when they were forced to sur- render, receiving no quarters from the victors. All were killed except the women and children. whose lives were spared, and one hundred men who had been tied, but who escaped. There were a few Saes engaged in this attack on the fort, but more, perhaps, were fighting upon the other side. The Foxes were incensed rather than weakened by the severe loss they sustained near Detroit; and

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their hostility continuing, not only against the French but the Indian tribes in alliance with them, caused a proposition to be brought forward by the Marquis de Vandreuil to commence a war of ex- termination against the Foxes. To this most of the friendly nations readily assented. A party of French troops was raised and put under the command of DeLouvigny, a Lieutenant, who left Que- bee in March, 1716. He ascended to Detroit in canoes, with all possible dispatch; there he received re-enforcements, and thence urged his way to Mackinac, where " his presence inspired in all the Frenchmen and Indians a confidence which was a presage of victory." With a respectable force- said to have been eight hundred strong-DeLouvigny entered Green Bay and ascended Fox River, to what point is now uncertain, when he encountered the enemy in a palisaded post, and won what was reported to be a decisive victory.

SUNDRY SKETCHES.

The Nippercineans, who are called the true Algonquins by old writers, resided at Lake Nipis- sing, while the Otchipwes resided on Superior, and at the Sault de Ste. Marie. Tradition states that these tribes came into collision with a tribe who were their predecessors on occupation of the lake region. This contest took place at Portagunassee, now Drummond's Island, and at Point de Tour, which resulted in the defeat of the aborigines. To those the Otchipwes gave the name Musko- duinsug, or people of the Little Prairie. Chuseo, the old Ottawa of Mackinac, states that this race were the bone cave builders of Menissing or Round Island, and also of the garden beds in the Grand River Valley, and are supposed to be identical with the Mascoutins. The traditions of the Saginaw Indians in 1821, and of Ishqnagonabi, of Traverse Bay, seem to agree in this matter.

When the Wyandots of the St. Lawrence, in the middle of the seventeenth century, formed a close league with the French, and also with the Adirondacks or Algonquins, they were brought into violent hostilities with the New York Iroquois confederacy. This led to a perfect separation, which has ever since existed. The Wyandots asserted seniority in membership, and were certainly living at Hochelaga, now Montreal, when Cartier visited that place in 1534. Driven from the St. Lawrence by the confederates, they fled by the Ottawa River to Lake Huron, and thus became the means of giving their name to that lake, as the French gave them the name Huron, from the style in which they wore their hair. The Iroquois called the lake Coniatare.

The Wyandots, driven from the valley of the St. Lawrence up the Ottawa, and thence to Lake IInron about the middle of the seventeenth century, took shelter on Mackinac Island. There they cultivated large fields in the center of the island, which the French called Les Grandes Jardins. Hill and dale were cultivated; loose stones were gathered and piled up in heaps, and the island was their happy home. Ultimately they were driven from it by the Tiedonderaghie to Lake Superior. The Iroquois pursued them to St. Joseph's Island, where the Chippewas met the invaders. Again, above St. Mary's Falls-at Nadowegoning, the place of Iroquois bones-the Chippewas succeeded in driving the confederates back.

In 1634, two Jesnits, Breboeuf and Daniel, established a mission on Lake Huron among the Hurons, a party of whom they accompanied on returning from Quebec.

In 1641, Rev. Charles Raymbault arrived at the Sault de Ste. Marie, attended by some Hurons, and there he heard of the powerful Nadowesies, who lived eighteen days' journey westward. Subse- quently the Huron country was invaded by the Mohawks, their villages as well as the Jesuit mis- sion houses, burned, and the venerable fathers mentioned subjected to death. This failed to deter the JJesuits, and as a consequence their missions were established by other fathers at Keweenaw and Chegoimegon.

Bishop Laval, of Quebec, commissioned Pere Mesnard to preach to the Indians of Lake Supe- rior and Green Bay. Ile reached St. Theresa's Bay, supposed to be Keweenaw Bay, where he remained eight months. Ultimately he wished to visit the Hurons of St. Michael's Island, and started for Chegoimegon Bay. At Keweenaw Portage he missed his attendant, who carried the canoe, and lost himself in the wilderness. In later years his cassock and breviary were found among the Sioux, and the traditions of the tribe say that the first white man who visited them was killed.

Pere Claude Allouez reached Lake Superior in September, 1665. He passed Keweenaw Bay, and October 1, 1665, arrived at La Pointe, in the bay of Chegoimegon-the old home of the Otchipwes. lle remained on the south shore of Superior for two years. In 1667, he returned to Quebec, and two days after his arrival there, entered on his return journey, accompanied by Pere Louis Nicolas, to labor among his Indian friends from the Sault de Ste. Marie to the Messippi.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Peres James Marquette and Claude Dablon arrived at Sault de Ste. Marie in 1668, where they established Ste. Mary's Mission, They visited the surrounding nations up to 1673. In 1669, Pere Marquette conceived the idea of exploring the Mississippi, and in 1673 entered on that duty in company with M. Louis Joliet.

THE CHIPPEWAS.

According to Bishop Baraga, and other lexicographers, the Otchipwes, of the great Algonquin race, were the inhabitants of the Lake Superior district from the beginning of the historic period. The name was first given to a band of Nippereineans, and ultimately was applied to all bands speaking the language of the Nippereineans, who subsequently were driven before the Iroquois to the Sault Ste. Marie. This dialeet was the most refined of all the Indian tongues, and won the praise of the great students among the early French missionaries. The old chief village of the tribe was at Chegoimegon, now La Pointe, near the Apostle Islands. There, their principal chiefs Mudjokerwis, Wanbojug. Andaigweos, and Gitchee, Waiskee ruled, and kept the fire of the tribe burning perpetually.

Long before the coming of the white man, there was a town at the mouth of the Menomonee River, governed by a great chief. In the interior were four Otchipwe towns governed also by a renowned chief.

The Menomonee chief ordered the river to be stopped at its mouth, so that the sturgeon could not go up the stream. This course resulted in a famine in the Otchipwe villages, which resulted in a war. The Menomonees had as allies, the Sioux, Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, Wabanakees, Win nebagoes, Opauangoes and Shawnees, while the Otchipwes relied upon the valor of their chiefs and their own renown. This war raged from 1627 to 1650 without intermission. From that time to 1830, the memories of that sanguinary struggle were treasured by the children of the respective tribes. Even the venerable missionaries of the Catholic Church were unable to conciliato the enemies. Within our own times, in 1830, the factions renewed their war of hate, so that the United States Government had to interpose. The treaty of peace between the tribes was solemnly signed in 1857, since which time they have cast aside their discords.

In 1730, the number of Chippewas reported to the French Government was 5,000, exclusive of bands exalted to tribes. When a garrison and Indian agency were established at the Sault in 1822, there were 8,500 reported within the boundaries of that agency. In 1806, Pike reported an Otchipwe population of 12,000 ; the report to Committee on Indian Colonization in 1525, placed the number at 18,600 including Saginaws. In 1829, they numbered. 15,000 ; in 1832, 9,120, and in 1850. 10,000.

DEATH OF THE INDIAN MEGISH.

At the beginning of the war of 1812, the Indians of the Shauawa family resided on Bear Creek, near the spot where John Riley shot James Harsen in 1810-11. The family circle claimed five strapping braves, brothers, among whom was Megish. the Britisher, who fell before the Ameri- can charge at the battle of Lundy's Lane. Old squaw Megish often related the story of his death, always maintaining that her son got between the opposing whites, was fired upon by the Americans. and slain. Capt. Chesby Blake, one of the pioneer lake captams, was then mate of a brig lying at Newburyport, waiting an opportunity to run through the blockading British squadron. He was not afforded a chance, however, and so he. with his crew, joined the American troops, and was present at bundy's Lane, with a division of Scott's brigade. In 1810, Blake came to Harsen's Island for the purpose of getting out choice lumber for one of the Newbury boats. On this occa sion the O'Blake was the guest of Capt. John H. Stewart, of Harsen's Island. In conversation with Aura P. Stewart, he related the story of the death of an Indian at Lundy's Lane, saying, that as the two armies were approaching, and a little while before the action, an Indian was seen running swiftly between the opposing lines. The Captain of the company said : " Blake, can't you kill that Indian ?" Blake fired, but without effect ; reloading. he took steady aim, fired, and the Heving savage was seen to leap upward, and then to fall dead. This undoubtedly was Megish, and his executioner was Capt. Blake.

DROWNING OF INDIAN REFUGEES.

At the outbreak of the war of 1812. the British Government secured the services of almost all the Indians from Detroit to Mackinac. A large number accompanied the British troops, and were present at the assault on Fort Sandusky. The defense offered by the Americans under Capt. Crogan was so spirited and destructive. that the British made a hasty retreat toward Malden.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

which caused a panic among their Indian allies, causing many of them to desert. Two large canoes burdened with Indian refugees were passing up the St. Clair in the night, and when near the Harsen homestead on Harsen Island, a thunder-storm burst upon them, upsetting one of the canoes, and casting sixteen warriors into the water. The night was very dark, so that those who succeeded in reaching the island shore, after much difficulty, shouted to their struggling brothers in the river. This shouting was continued until all who were not drowned reached the shore. To Mrs. Graveraet the howls of the savages were dreadful. In her anxiety, she seized her brother's infant, rolled it in a blanket, and was in the act of seeking shelter in a wood near by, when her brother prevailed upon her to stay. At dawn next morning, two birch canoes filled with Indians were seen to leave the opposite side of the river and approach the island. Twenty strapping warriors landed, and as they approached the whites saw that their faces were painted with char- coal. They looked very solemn; said they mourned lost friends; that they were induced to go to war by the British, who told them that the Kit-che-mocomans (Long Knives) were great cowards and easily whipped ; but they found the statement untrue. They stated that the Long Knives had killed a great many British at Lower Sandusky, and themselves had to retreat to save their lives. They described the bursting of the storm, the loss of two warriors by drowning, and advised Graveraet to leave quickly, as the Long Knives were coming.

CUM-E-KUM-E-VON.

About the center of the eastern boundary of the town of Chesterfield, on the shore of Lake St. Clair, stood the Indian reservation. where resided for many years the chief of the tribes, Macompte, or Cum-e-kum-e-non. This chief was well beloved by his nation; in fact, his voice was the oracle of his people, his nod the law of his empire. There was, however. in this region a king greater and mightier to destroy than he. This king still reigns, while the warrior of the Indians " sleeps the sleep that knows no waking." He was slain by this king, whose name is Alcohol. His death was a tragic one. It seems that Macompte had been paying a familiar visit to his bosom friend, the king, and had partaken too freely of the hospitality of his host Toward evening, the chief' went down to the river, and, with a precipitous rush, glided down its banks into the water and was drowned. In his suicidal intent, he passed the residence of Stockton and Clemens. The wife of the former gentleman heard the hurried tread of the unfortunate chief as he passed on to the river, and heard the splash when he struck the water. Mrs. Stockton's testimony was the only direct evidence that tended to convince the Indians that his melancholy death was voluntary-that he had not been murdered by the white man, as the ever-suspicious nature of the Indians led them to suppose. The event caused considerable excitement throughout the entire set- tlement. This reservation was located in the southeast part of the township of Chesterfield. The body was found the day after the suicide by John Tucker and the Indians. It was buried in the orchard of John Theker, on P. C. 129, Harrison. It was wrapped in a blue broadeloth blanket, bound by silver brooches, while his hat was ornamented with silver bands. A string of sixteen silver crescents and silver arm bands completed the ornamentation of the dead chief's body. All that has been disturbed in connection with this grave is a small piece of the enwrapping blanket, taken as a curiosity by David Tucker about the year 1840-41. All stories of other interference are without foundation.

Old Macompte, father of Cum-e-kum-e-non and Francis, died about 1816, and was buried in the sand bank beyond New Baltimore. Two men-Van Eff and Beebe-visited the grave, exhumed a brass rifle, and eloped with the prize. Shortly after this, Francis Macompte and other Indians, who had gone West with Henry Tucker to select a reservation, returned to this point. The former found his father's grave tampered with; he discovered who were the actors in the affair, brought them before the court at Mount Clemens, where the matter was settled on payment of $60.

Francis Macompte then became chief, with Truckatoe as sub-chief. The latter became dis- satisfied about the Indian reserve, and moved with several members of the band to Lakeville abont 1830. Next under him was Kanobe, said to be implicated in the abduction of the Finch child-a saying without any foundation whatever, beyond the fact that the Indian loved the boy, and seemed determined to adopt him. Those Indians were generally peaceful, and were present at almost all the bees of the olden time, not to labor by any means, but to run pony races and trade with the Americans.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

CHIEF WING.

Among the savages of 1812 were to be found a few so devoted lo principle that neither En. glish gold nor specious promises could draw them away from their fidelity to the Republic. The Indian chief, Wing, of Mackinaw, was one of the few. When the British and Indians took posses- sion of the post, in 1812, Wing refused to aid them in any way, and influenced his band to such a degree that each member refused to take even a present of tobacco from the garrison. So marked was his fidelity that he selected eight powerful warriors to man his large canoe, and without loss of time, paddled down the lake to Detroit to inform Hull of the capture of Mackinaw. For this act and his well-known attachment to the American cause, he became a great favorite in every Ameri- can settlement, and was a welcome visitor to the Governor's house at Detroit, until age put an end to his travels.

Wan-he-ke-nish, an early visitor to the St. Clair, later of the Northwestern tribes, was a most ancient specimen of aboriginal senility. Formerly he was large and plump and had the reputation of being overbearing and insolent. One day, having made an assault on a white man, he was most unmercifully pounded, and, although he lived many years afterward, he never quite recovered. Ilis hair was bleached, he was shriveled and wrinkled, and his form so doubled up that his appear- ance gave little suggestion that he was ever " big Ingun me," as was his former boast. He claimed. in the most earnest way, to be one hundred and forty years of age, but this must have been an exaggeration, although he had a son who was called " Big Papoose," who was an old man. They are both dead now. The old man would surround a large ration up to the day of his death. His skull was secured and it measured but twenty inches around, and only twelve and one-half over the top from ear to ear.

Jake Batise, a Winnebago, was another character. In early years, he was an annual visitor to the Indians of Ira Township. He once got some kind of work, and went to a white woman to get her to bake some bread for him to live on while doing the job. She said. " No, Jake, you are a bad Indian ; I once loaned yon $2, and you have never paid me as you promised. I shall tell everybody that you are not honest, and no one will trust you after this."

" Ah," says Jake, " I never see it that way. Don't tell it that way, and I pay you." Which he did, and got his bread baked. It seems it had never occurred to him that wrong-doing would injure his reputation. He was quite a good Indian afterward.

Wittaniss was one of the sub-chiefs of the Huron Indians as early as 1776. He was a devoted attaché of the British commandants of Detroit. and shared with his brother Indians and the British soldiery in all the dastardly acts which marked the great effort to sustain the reign of tyranny and persecution on this continent. This cowardly redskin and his band made many attempts on the life of Richard Connor some years later. The American pioncer was compelled to be always on his guard against the treachery of those savages. After the purchase of the Mora- vian village by Askins and Aneram, the latter appointed Wittaniss care taker. In his new office, the Indian chief essayed to set the Irish land agent, and accordingly tried to evict Connor ; but the new settler frustrated all his designs, treated him to a severe beating, and otherwise made life so hideous for the malicious savage, that he was glad to seek refuge in the grave a day or so after the British power was forever broken in the United States.

Kanobe, of Romeo, was present on the treaty ground at Saginaw, in September. 1819. The harsh statements made regarding his connection with the abduction of the Finch boy have long since been proven without foundation. In 1827, Kanobe moved into Canada, stayed some time there, and returned to give assurances that the reports concerning him were without foundation. lle was a savage of good parts, and an earnest friend of the American settlers of Macomb and St. Clair Counties.

An equally bad Indian, bearing a similar name, succeeded Wittaniss, Semor. The circum- stanees which surrounded this fellow urged him to adopt a policy of conciliation toward the Ameri- can settlers, which policy was carried out. The last Wittaniss was an old man when he left the county in 1830.

Tipsikaw was the athlete of the band near Romeo. He was a powerful savage, well built, and, it is said, capable of running down wolves, bears, and, in some instances, deer. While hunting in the neighborhood of Ahnont, he dislocated his shoulder. Dr. Gleason was called to his aid. All the Doctor's physical power was not sufficient to replace the dislocated bone, so he tied the arm of the warrior to a tree, and then directed him to draw his body forward. This plan was successful, and

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Tipsikaw was again ready to resume the chase. This Indian left the county in 1837 or 1838. In 1874, he revisited his old hunting-grounds, and was found weeping by one of the early settlers, opposite the site of his former village.

Tipsikaw was well known to the settlers of St. Clair. He was a man of great speed and skill in wrestling, his principal feat being to run to a stake ten rods away and return before a horse and rider could make a like trip. This Indian is still living in Isabella County.

JOHN RILEY.

Especial mention is made of the good qualities of John Riley. the Otehipwe chief. His family and that of Black Cloud, with some others, were leading spirits among the savages. At this time (1835), the former owned a tract of land granted by Government at what is now Port Huron, on the south of Black River. Only two houses, one log and one frame, were to be seen at that point. John Riley was born in the Mohawk Valley of a German father and Indian mother, and possessed greater intelligence than the full Indian. He, with many of his tribe, made annual visits to the woods near the village for the purpose of making maple sugar. coming in February or March, and returning when the season was over. In the spring of 1836, he came early for this purpose, and one pleasant Sunday, as he would not allow any work to be done that day, he took a walk in the woods accompanied by a boy. Coming upon a large hollow log, which had the appearance of being the home of some animal, he said to the boy "Abs-co-in hash-a-pun" (John, a raccoon), directing the boy at the same time to crawl into the log and investigate. The young Abs-co-in soon came out with great speed shouting " mo-g-wash! mo-g-nash" ("a bear, a bear!") Riley drew his hatchet, and as the bear's head appeared, struck her a powerful blow with the edge of the weapon, burying it in her brains. She weighed over 400 pounds and furnished material for a continuous feast.

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History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 23

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814