USA > Michigan > Newaygo County > Portrait and biographical album of Newaygo County, Michigan : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county also containing a complete history of the county, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 53
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There are few special features in the geological character of Newaygo County. There have been valuable deposits of gypsum discovered, and both coal and petroleum are supposed to abound beneath the surface. The future geologist will doubtless find much of value and interest not at present known in regard to this region, and it is hoped will be dis- covered during the next geological survey.
BOTANICAL.
T is unnecessary to name the flora of Ne- . waygo County, since the species are so nu- merous and well-known. Dr. Gray, in his treatise on the Botany of the Northern States East of the Mississippi, gives 130 orders of flowering plants. In 1860 a botanical survey of the State was made, under N. H. Winchell. His report regarded every flower, plant, shrub, tree and grass to be found in Michigan, then numbering 1,205 species, as all natives with 85 exceptions. In 1880 Messrs. Wheeler and Smith, of Hubbardston, Mich., compiled and published a complete flora of this State, with corrections to date. Of this great num- ber there are at present found within the confines of Newaygo County nearly 400 genera, embracing pos- sibly 1,000 species. A large number of species con- sidered in the report of 1860 have disappeared, while perhaps 25 species have been introduced within the last 20 years. The flowers, etc., are as rich generally as may be found in any of the North- ern .States; in a few instances the brilliancy of hue is unequaled by any. All appear to reach perfection in this portion of the Peninsular State.
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INDIANS. -.
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HE origin of the red men, or American Indians, is a subject which interests as well as in- structs. It is a favorite with the ethnologist, even as it is one of deep concern to the ordi- nary reader. The era of their establishment as a distinct and insulated people must be set down and credited to a period immediately after the separation of the Asiatics and the origin of the languages. No doubt whatever can exist when the American Indian is regarded as of Asiatic origin. The fact is that the full-blood Indian of the present is descended directly from the earliest inhabitants, or, in other words, from the survivors of that people who, on being driven from their fair possessions, retired to the wilderness in sorrow, and reared up their children under the saddening influences of their un- quenchable griefs, bequeathing them only the habits of the wild, cloud-roofed homes of their exile-a sul- len silence and a rude moral code. In after years those wild sons of the forest and prairie grew in num-
bers and in strength. Some legend told them of their present sufferings, of the high station which their fathers once had held, and of the riotous race that now reveled in the wealth which should be theirs. The fierce passions of the savage were aroused, and uniting their scattered bands, all marched in silence upon the villages of the Tartars, driving them on- ward to the capital of their Incas, and consigning their homes to the flames. Once in view of the great city, the hurrying bands halted in surprise, while Tartar cunning took advantage of the situation, and offered to the sons of their former victims pledges of amity and justice, which were sacredly observed. Henceforth Mexico was open to the Indians, bearing precisely the same relation to them that the Hudson Bay Company's villages do to the Northwestern In- dians of the present time,-obtaining all and render- ing little.
The subjection of the Mongolian race, represented in North America by that branch of it to which those Tartars belonged, seems to have taken place about five centuries prior to the arrival of the Spaniards ; while it may be concluded that the war of the races, which resulted in reducing the villages erected by the Tartar hordes to ruin, took place between one and two hundred years later. These statements, though actually referring to events which in point of time are comparatively modern, can be substantiated only
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by the fact that about the periods mentioned the dead bodies of an unknown race of men were washed ashore on the European coasts ; while previous to that time there is no account whatever in European annals of even a vestige of trans-Atlantic humanity being transferred by ocean currents to the shores of the Old World. Toward the latter half of the fif- teenth century, two dead bodies, entirely free from decomposition and corresponding with the character- istics of the red men, as afterward seen by Columbus, were cast ashore on the Azores, and confirmed the great discoverer in his belief in the existence of a western world and a western people.
Storm and flood and disease have created sad hovoc in the ranks of the aborigines since the occupation of the country by the white man. Inherent causes have led to the decimation of the race even more than the advance of civilization, which seems not to affect it materially. In the maintenance of the same number of representatives during three centuries, and its existence in the very face of a most uncere- monious, and, whenever necessary, cruel conquest, the grand dispensations of the unseen Ruler are demonstrated; for, without the aborigines, savage and treacherous as they were, it is possible that the ex- plorers of former times would have so many natural difficulties to contend with that their work would be surrendered in despair, and the most fertile regions of the continent saved for the plow-shares of the coming generations It is very questionable whether the ultimate resolve of Columbus was not strengthened by the appearance of the bodies of Indians on the coast of Europe, even as the fact of the existence of a people in the interior led the French explorers into the very heart of the continent in later days. From this standpoint their services can not be over-esti- mated. Their existence is embraced in the plan of the Divinity for his government of the world; and it will not be a matter of surprise to learn that the same intelligence which sent a thrill of liberty through every nerve of the Republic will, in the near future, devise some method under which the remnant of a great and ancient race may taste the sweets of pub- lic sympathy, and feel that, after a long season of suffering, they have at last found a shelter amid a sympathizing people.
Of the several great branches of North American Indians the only ones entitled to consideration in
Michigan history are the Algonquins and Iroquois. At the time of the discovery of America the former occupied the Atlantic seaboard, while the home of the Iroquois was an island in this vast Algonquin population.
An almost continuous warfare was carried on be- tween tribes ; but later, on the entrance of the white man into their beloved homes, every foot of territory was fiercely disputed by the confederacy of many neighboring tribes. The Algonquins formed the most extensive alliances to resist the encroachment of the whites, especially the English. Such was the nature of King Phillip's war. This king, with his Algonquin braves, spread terror and desolation throughout New England. With the Algonquins as the controlling spirits, a confederacy of continental proportions was the result, embracing in its alliance the tribes of every name and lineage from the North- ern lakes to the gulf. Pontiac, having breathed into then his implacable hate of the English intruders, ordered the conflict to commence.
The Indians had not only their " manitous," but also their evil spirits; and the wild features of the lake scenery appears to have impressed their savage minds with superstition. They believed that all the prominent points of this wide region were created and guarded by monsters ; and the images of these they sculptured on stone, painted upon the rocks, or carved upon the trees. Those who " obeyed " these supernatural beings they thought would after death range among flowery fields filled with the choicest game, while those who neglected their counsels would wander amid dreary solitudes, stung by gnats as large as pigeons.
INDIAN LIFE.
HE art of hunting not only supplied the In- dian with food,. but, like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love of distinction. The male children, as soon as they acquired sufficient age and strength, were furnished with a bow and arrow, and taught to shoot birds and other small game. Success in killing large animals required years of careful study and practice,
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and the art was as seduously inculcated in the minds of the rising generation as are the elements of read- ing, writing and arithmetic in the common schools of civilized communities. The mazes of the forest and the dense tall grass of the prairies were the objects of the most searching scrutiny, and revealed at a glance the animal that made any visible traces, the direction it was pursuing, and the time that had elapsed since it had passed. In a forest country he selected the valleys, because they were most fre- quently the resort of game. The most easily taken, perhaps, of all the animals of the chase was the deer. It is endowed with a curiosity which prompts it to stop in its flight and look back at the approaching hunter, who always avails himself of this opportunity to let fly the fatal arrow.
Their general councils were composed of the chiefs and old men. When in council they usually sat in concentric circles around the speaker, and each indi- vidual, notwithstanding the fiery passions that burned within, preserved an exterior as immovable as though cast in bronze. Before commencing business a per- son appeared with the sacred pipe, and another with fire to kindle it. After being lighted it was first pre- sented to heaven, then to the earth, then to the pre- siding spirit, and lastly to the several councilors, each of whom took a whiff. These formalities were ob- served with as close exactness as state etiquette in civilized courts.
The dwellings of the Indians were of the simplest and rudest character. On some pleasant spot by the bank of a river, or near an ever running spring, they raised their groups of wigwams, constructed of the bark of trees, and easily taken down and removed to another spot. The dwelling-places of the chiefs were sometimes more spacious, and constructed with greater care, but of the same materials. Skins taken in the chase served them for repose.
Though principally dependent upon hunting and fishing, the uncertain supply from these sources led them to cultivate small patches of corn. Every family did everything necessary within itself, com- merce, or an exchange of articles, being almost un- known to them. In case of dispute and dissension, each Indian relied upon himself for retaliation ; blood for blood was the rule, and the relatives of the slain man were bound to obtain bloody revenge for his death. This principle gave rise, as a matter of course,
to innumerable and bitter feuds, and wars of exter- mination, when such were possible. War, indeed, rather than peace, was the Indian's glory and delight -war, not conducted as in civilization, but where in- dividual skill, endurance, gallantry and cruelty were prime requisites. For such a purpose as revenge the Indian would make great sacrifices, and display a patience and perseverance truly heroic; but when the excitement was over he sank back into a listless, unoccupied, well-nigh useless savage. During the intervals of his more exciting pursuits, the Indian employed his time in decorating his person with all the refinement of paint and feathers, and in the manufacture of his arms and canoes. These were constructed of bark, and so light that they could easily be carried on the shoulder from stream to stream. His amusements were the war dance, ath- letic games, the narration of his exploits and listen- ing to the oratory of the chiefs; but during long periods of such existence he remained in a state of `torpor, gazing listlessly upon the trees of the forest and the clouds that sailed above them; and this va- cancy imprinted habitual gravity, and even melan- choly, upon his general deportment.
The main labor and drudgery of Indian commu- nities fell upon the women. The planting, tending and gathering of the crops, making mats and bas- kets, carrying burdens,-in fact, all things of the kind were performed by them, thus making their con- dition but little better than slaves. Marriage was merely a matter of bargain and sale, the husband giving presents to the father of the bride. In gen- eral they had but few children. They were subjected to many and severe attacks of sickness, and at times famine and pestilence swept away whole tribes.
THE INDIAN DEAD.
HE nature of their funeral rites is thus de- scribed : A few days after the burial the child, the father or mother or near relative of the deceased gave a feast. The food was prepared and carried to the grave, to which all sympathizing friends repaired. If the feast was prepared by a man, none but men attended; and the same rule applied to women, as in the case under
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notice. When assembled, the ruler of the feast dis- tributed to each one present a portion of the food prepared ; and each one, before partaking, put a small quantity on the head of the grave, so that it might fall through an aperture and reach the body of the dead. In such a female gathering, if one of the company were deemed profligate, she was not per- mitted to make this offering to the dead through her own hands; but another received it from her, and of- fered it on her behalf. After the offerings were made to the deceased, the remainder of the food was eaten by the company. Similar feasts were held in honor of deceased men and women. When the party consisted of warriors, addresses were made, and the virtues of the dead chanted. The festivals are repeated every year, and when returning from their wintering grounds to their villages in the spring they were accustomed to clear away the grass and weeds from each grave, and keep them cleared dur- ing the summer. Among the Ottawas it was custom- ary to place a post, proportioned in height to the age and size of the deceased, at the head of the grave. On one side of this post appeared the pic-
ture of an animal, the name of which was the pre- vailing name in the family. On the other side was a clumsy drawing, slightly resembling a man minus a head, representing a person whom the deceased had slain in war; or, if it were a child, the victim of one of its relatives was painted. A man with a head signified a person wounded. Such hieroglyph- ics were multiplied in just such measure as circum- stances pointed out. Near the grave post was placed a cane, about two feet in length, so that when the passing Indian or visitor arrived at the grave he strikes the post two or three times to announce his arrival. Posts eight or ten feet high were frequently placed by the side of a hut, and always near the wig- wam or hut wherein the conjurers met to consult on the cause of severe illness. On the upper end of this post was cut the figure of the human face. Mr. Lykins, afterwards associated with McCoy, discovered one on Grand River, on which was carved with sav- age exquisiteness a bust of some Indian chief. In the village was seen a tall pole, neatly pealed, streaked in vermilion and surmounted with a bunch of green boughs, probably representing the victory of some savage political party.
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CARLY SETTLEMENT.
USTLY it may be observed that Newaygo County owes its first settlement to the at- tractive pine forests with which it was once much more bountifully supplied than now, and to the presence of the Mus- kegon River, a splendid water- way for transporting logs and lumber to Lake Michigan.
The Muskegon River is the longest stream in the State, and has its source in the beautiful lake, twelve miles in length, named in honor of the learned and unfortu- nate Dr. Douglass Houghton, whose valuable geologic researches were lost to the State when in 1846 he was drowned in Lake Superior, while engaged in scientific re- searches. The principal tributaries of the Muskegon are Brooks, Pen. noyer, Butterfield and Tamarack Creeks, and Middle Branch, Hersey, Little Muskegon and Clam Rivers. Over these streams the hardy pioneers began to transport logs as early as 1837.
The principal lumber operators here have come from pine regions, such as Northern New York, Maine and the Susquehanna and its tributaries, which serves to demonstrate the remarkable fact that when once a man has engaged in lumbering, he seldom relin- quishes the pursuit of wealth in that channel. He may fail at first, but he hopes for final success, and
he usually achieves it. So also it has been on the Muskegon River; the loggers of past years are still so engaged, and the early manufacturers of lumber still continue in the same business; if they do not personally superintend their operation in that direction, they have trusty agents that are so doing.
Thus it becomes a cause for congratulation, that the early settlers on the Muskegon River were as a class energetic, enterprising and intelligent, and since
There is iron in our northern winds, And our pines are trees of healing,
we find longevity among them rather a rule than an exception.
In the year 1836, the country between the Mus- kegon and Houghton Lakes had not been fully sur- veyed, but it was then being done, and the times were good. A great land company was organized at Chicago, of which Hiram Piersons and Hon. Henry Pennoyer were prominent members, the object of which company was to hold by "squatters' claim " the mouths of all the streams north of Grand River, and up to and including the Manistee, until the same should come into market.
Pennoyer built a house this same year at what is now called Sevastopol, at the foot of Muskegon Lake. One Michael Vandervoort and Hannibal Hyde also made claims, a vessel named the "Westward Ho," Capt. James Banks, having brought them over from Chicago. During the same season claims were also made by other members of this land company to lands at the mouths of other streams, as far down the coast as Manistee. John McBride also laid
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claim to the land now the site of D. P. Clay's mill, in the village of Newaygo, where he built his cabin, and lived until late in the autumn of 1836. He then sold his claim to George Walton, and he in turn subsequently sold to John A. Brooks.
Samuel Rose, a native of Massachusetts, arrived here late in the fall of 1837. He is still living, at Newaygo, the oldest resident of the county. During the winter previous, John A. Brooks and John F. Stearns had passed through the county, coming from Grand Rapids on snow-shoes, and proceeding north- westerly as far north as the present site of Manis- tee, on an exploring expedition, and returning the same way. Their route was through a trackless wil- derness. During the season of 1837, also, the lum- ber company built a log cabin at the mouth of Bige- low Creek, one and a half miles above Newaygo, and placed a family therein to hold their claim secure.
In the year 1838, Samuel Rose and George Walton cleared several acres of land east and west of the Pennoyer Creek, and on the bluffs just north of Ne- waygo.
At this place, in those days, the Indians congre- gated in large numbers. The mounds or cradle knolls, both north and south of Newaygo, give evi- dence of former Indian cultivation. The Indians gave to this place the name of Newaygo, which by some is interpreted, "We go no farther.'
The large lakes to the southeast of the village, and the chain of them three miles north of it, abounding in fish, and the choice hunting grounds around them, as inferred from "dear licks " still existing near them, show that this point was one of the noted Indian rendezvoux of former times.
Croton claims as great antiquity as Newaygo, for in 1837 Herman Joachim and Louis Bohne made claims to the present site of the village, and at the junction of the Little Muskegon with the main river. John F. Stearns and John A. Brooks were also rival claimants to the same land. The conflicting inter- ests of the four were amicably compromised, and they formed themselves into a company for the pur- pose of erecting a saw-mill and engaging in the man- ufacture of lumber. Brooks was chosen as chief manager, and built a dam at the point where William Rice's now is ; but, owing to the "back water" from the main river during the spring of 1838, it was car- ried up stream quite a distance; and, owing to this
misfortune and the company's lack of funds, nothing further towards the erection of a mill was done that year.
At this time there was no road to Grand Rapids or to Muskegon Lake, and no outlet of any kind save an Indian trail running nearly parallel with the river and about 80 rods from it, to its mouth, thus avoiding the deep ravines that extend from it back 20 to 60 rods at short intervals during its entire length.
At the close of the spring of 1838, Brooks and Stearns bade adieu to their partners, Joachim and Bohne, and were absent from them the rest of the year. The latter, by the aid of relatives residing in Philadelphia, managed to remain on their claims a few months longer, when they again sold an interest in their sites to Lieutenant Leavenworth and Capt. Nichols. These two completed the dam and mill, manufactured lumber a short time, and then they too deemed it prudent to make their exit from the Mus- kegon River valley. Brooks never afterwards resided in Croton; but Stearns, in 1842, bought the interest of his former partners and their associates in Croton property. He thus became the sole owner of Joachim and Bohne's original claims, and the mill and dam built thereon.
The winter of 1842-3 was one of great severity throughout the State. It was equally severe here on the Muskegon River, as elsewhere, and besides, the snow was here, for three months or more, of an aver- age depth of three feet. As yet, the Croton pioneers had opened no road to any point where supplies might be obtained and no beast of burden could be urged through the snow ; making the "packing in,' as it was called, of provisions impracticable. In this emergency, Joachim traveled on snow shoes to Grand Haven, bought deer skins, sewed his provisions in them, and dragged this burden over yielding snow to his home in Croton, a distance of something over 60 miles. This feat was repeated by him several times during that winter, and thus by his exertions his friends in Croton were fed till spring opened. Joachim would sometimes carry from Grand Haven to Croton, on his back, So pounds, traveling 30 miles a day while doing so.
Croton, surrounded by a beautiful country, and Big, Marengo and Stearns Prairies, as productive then as now, failed to grow as the proprietor fondly hoped it might ; and, knowing the reason to be the want of an
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easy way of egress, he cut out a road in 1847 to Shangles', on Rogue River, and from there was a pass- able road to Grand Rapids. Three years later, the Bartons and Dalziels, from Ionia County, and the Utleys, from Clinton County, located upon Big Prai- rie, where most of them still reside.
William D. Decker, commonly called John Ma- rengo, owned a large farm on the prairie named Marengo Prairie, and all three of the prairies were soon occupied by thrifty settlers. Croton commenced growing, and soon became the headquarters for log- gers operating between that point and the present site of Big Rapids. Stearns' liberality proved his financial downfall; and in 1850, deeply embarassed with debts incurred by reason of aiding settlers too poor to pay him, sold his property, already heavily incumbered, to Daniel Ball and Hon. Wilder D. Fos- ter; was in Ball's employ a short time at Grand Rapids, and then left for the West, settling in the State of Iowa.
The mill on Pennoyer Creek, north of Newaygo, remained idle from 1838 to 1841. In the latter year it was leased for two years by Augustus and Freder- ick Pennoyer, Samuel Rose and Hannibal Hyde. In the fall the three first named went to Chicago to buy supplies for the winter. They were purchased and put aboard of a vessel commanded by Captain John Lundy, and the Pennoyers took passage with her. She set sail for Muskegon the 22d of October. When away from port a short time, a heavy gale arose, the vessel went to pieces, and all the passengers, with the captain and crew, were drowned. Frag- ments of the wreck were found down the lake on the Wisconsin shore, 100 miles from where the disaster is supposed to have occurred.
The earliest settlements were therefore made at Newaygo and Croton. From these points as centers, new comers spread out steadily in all directions, and about the time of the war most of the southern part of the county showed development under the hand of the white man. The settlements at Fremont and vicinity were made in 1855 and succeeding years. Hesperia followed Fremont about 12 years. Since then a number of lively villages have sprung up around the county, and there are in all about a dozen villages and 26 postoffices. Immigration is now more rapid than ever, and every year brings great progress in population, improvement and wealth.
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