THE HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY
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INTRODUCTORY
All American history, whether local or general, opens amid similar scenes, and its pictures have a common back-ground. Dense forest fills the space, and the moving figures are the savage and the brute. The lakes, the plunging rivers and the placid streams are unruffled save by the bark canoes of savage wanderers and the storms of heaven. Then there comes a time when the rays of advancing civilizations begin to penetrate the gloom. The approaching footsteps of the pioneer fall with equally ominous sound upon the ears of the savage and the brute. The contest that follows is sometimes brief, though oftener protracted; but the interests of civilization, the destiny of a great republic, are at stake, and in the Providence of human affairs ultimate triumph must some time come to the founders of homes, the builders of cities and of states. Then
"Toil swings the axe and forests bow,
The fields break out in radiant bloom;
Rich harvests smile behind the plow,
And cities cluster round the loom."
The spot where civilization struggled with barbarism for the supremacy is the Mecca of the historian. Thither he repairs with hurried step, to rescue the traditions of returnless centuries and of tribes fast disappearing. In nooks and caves and scattered mounds he finds a multitude of characters that speak in a voiceless language of a past out of which no other tidings will ever come. Starting from the spot dedicated to the future by the heralds of civilization, of social refinement and civil authority, history begins to deal with characters and scenes belonging to its foreground.
A knowledge of the past is necessary to an intelligent understanding of the present, and a wise preparation for the future. An inheritance, whatsoever its form is most truly prized and wisely guarded by the heir who is best acquainted with its cost. Without struggle there is no triumph, without toil no harvest, without sacrifice no blessing. Civil liberty might seem to be an inherent right; but human experience teaches that it has been purchased and preserved at a fearful cost. Material importance and grandeur are also wrought out by severe process. Every ladder, no matter how high it may reach, has its lowly rounds which weary feet have pressed. The beautiful cities that throng and adorn this fair land today may each trace it genealogy to humble parentage and lowly birth; and from that spot leads a tangled path, along lowly ways, from which the early conquerors of waste places have carved out the great highway upon which the world is traveling to-day.
We stated, at the beginning, a general truth in relation to American history; but, it is also true of local history that there are degrees of interest and importance fixed by the characteristics of the locality treated; and this country has few localities more fruitful of inviting material for a writer's use than the far-famed Saginaw Valley. The roman cist might revel amid its traditions and reminiscences, the scientist find a field worthy of his attention, and the statistician grow bewildered with the results of yeas that have been few but fruitful.
Prior to about half a century ago, this valley in its primitive grandeur had been the habitation of wild beasts and wilder men. The sound of the woodman's axe had never helped to swell the music of the woods , and the solitude of the centuries was upon land and river, neither of which had ever felt the encroachments of even the rudest civilization. When, in 1831, the French traveler and savant, De Tocqueville, visited America, he sought the wilds of what was then the "Far West," and selected the lower portion of the Saginaw Valley from which to make observations. In his "Democracy in America," he wrote of this country with the pen of true prophecy when he said:
"In a few years these impenetrable forests with have fallen; the sons of civilization will break the silence of the Saginaw; the banks will be imprisoned by quays; its current, which now flows on unnoticed and tranquil through a nameless waste, will be stemmed by the prows of vessels. We were perhaps the last travelers allowed to see the primitive grandeur of this solitude."
Charmed by the scene spread before him, and his vision rendered discerning by a well grounded philosophy, he might have been able to say
"I hear the tread of pioneers
Of nations yet to be,
The first low wash of waves, where soon
Shall roll a human sea.
The rudiments of empire here
Are plastic yet and warm;
The chaos of a mighty world
Is rounding into form."
But even the imagination of a De Tocqueville could not have forecast the changes of fifty years. The "silence of the Saginaw" has been broken by a chorus of industry that has rung in the ears of all the commercial world, and the forests of the valley have been transformed into vigorous and beautiful cities.
INDIAN TRADITIONS AND TREATIES
The Saginaw Valley derives its name from an Indian word, O-sauk-e-non, meaning "the land of the Sauks." Three hundred and fifty years ago the Sauks were a warlike and powerful tribe of Indians who held undisputed sway throughout all the region of country now known as eastern Michigan. The Saginaw Valley was the most attractive portion of the lake region. Even as late as twenty years ago the high ground now with in the limits of West Bay City was a favorite camping ground of the Indians, and was as charming a spot as the eye ever rests upon. Game of all kinds abounded in the valley. The buffalo, elk and moose roamed throughout the forests, and fish abounded in the rivers and lakes.
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THE SKULL ISLAND MASSACRE.
In which the Sauks were nearly exterminated by the Chippewas, occurred on an island situated a short distance above where the McGraw mill, at South Bay City, now stands. The best traditionary history of this event we have been able to find is from the pen of William R. McCormick, of Bay City, one of the early pioneers, and one who is considered excellent authority upon matters of early local history. Mr. McCormick writes as follows:
"My father emigrated to the valley when I was but ten years old. My associates were mostly among the Indians, which language I became almost as familiar with as my own, and for a great many years was engaged in the fur trade. During this time I used to go up the different tributaries of the Saginaw to buy furs, and on nearly all such occasions I found indications that the Saginaw Valley was inhabited by a different race of people prior to the present Indians. On nearly all the tributaries can be found mounds filled with human bones. I have opened those mounds for my own satisfaction, and found bones lying in all directions, showing they were thrown together without any regularity; upon which I became satisfied they were killed in battle. This awakened in me a curiosity to find out what people they were, and where and what had became of them. I often questioned the Indians in regard to it, but they would invariably say that there were two or three very old Indians living on the bay that could tell me all about it; telling me their names. Accordingly, in one of my journeys to the bay, I sought out one of the Indians in question. I think this was in 1835. I found him a very old man. I asked him his age; he said he thought he was a great deal over one hundred years old. His faculties were as bright as those of a man of fifty. I told him I understood he could give me the traditionof his race. He said he could, as it was handed down to him by his grandfather, who, he said, was older than he was now when he told him. For fear I should not get it correct, I called to my aid an educated man, who was part Indian, ---Peter Grewett, a man well known by the early settlers as an Indian trader, and who had spent his life with the Indians in the fur trade, and was for many years in the employ of the American Fur Company. The old Indian commenced as follows:--The Sauks occupied the whole of the country along the Saginaw River, and its tributaries, extending from Thunder Bay on the north to the head of the Shiawassee on the south, and from Lake Michigan on the west to Detroit on the east. The balance of Michigan was occupied by the Pottawatomies, and the Lake Superior country was occupied by the Chippewas and Ottawas, while the Menominees were at the head of Green Bay in Wisconsin, and another tribe west of the Mississippi which he called the Sioux. The main village of the Sauks stood on the west side of the Saginaw River, just below the recent residence of Mr. Frank Fitzhugh, and opposite the mill of the Hon. N. B. Bradley. The Sauks were always at war with their Chippewa neighbors on the north and the Pottawatomies, on the south, and also with other nations in Canada, until at last a council was called, consisting of the Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Menominees, Ottawas and Six Nations, of New York. At an appointed time they all met at the Island of Mackinaw, where they fitted out a large army and started in bark canoes and came down the west shore of Lake Huron. They then stole along the west shore of Saginaw Bay by night, and lay concealed during the day until they arrived at a place called Petobegong. Here they landed part of their army while the rest crossed the bay and landed to the east of the mouth of the Saginaw River in the night.
In the morning both armies started up the river, one on each side, so as to attack both villages at once. The army on the west side attacked the main village first, by surprise, and massacred nearly all. The balance retreated across the river to another village, which stood near where the Center House now stands, near the old Portsmouth ferry. At this time that part of the army that had landed on the east side of the river came up and a desperate battle took place in the vicinity of the residence of William R. McCormick, that being the highest land and where they had attempted to fortify themselves. At the present time by digging in this hill you will find it full of human bones, the remains of those killed in that battle. Here they were again defeated. They then crossed the river and retreated to Skull Island, which is the next island above what is now called Stone's Island. Here they considered themselves safe, as their enemies had no canoes, and they could fortify themselves. But the next night after their retreat to the island, the ice froze thick enough for the allies to cross, which they did, when another massacre ensued. Here they were all exterminated, with the exception of twelve families. From the numbers of skulls found on it in after years, this island has received the name of Skull Island. The allies then divided, some going up the Cass, some up the Flint, others up the Shiawassee, Tittabawassee and so on, where there were different bands located. But the largest battles were fought on the Flint; one about half a mile below the present city of Flint, others up the bluff. Another Indian traditionist says another re-enforcement met them here, coming through from Detroit. Here there is a large number of mounds filled with bones, which can be seen at the present day. They then came down the river and fought another battle of the bluff about a mile above the present village of Flushing, on the farm formerly owned by a Mr. Bailey. Here there is also a large number of mounds yet to be seen; if you should dig them open, as I have, you will find them filled with human bones. The next battle was fought about sixteen miles below Flushing, on the farm formerly occupied by the late James McCormick. There were several battles fought on the Cass, at what is now called the Bend, or Bridgeport Center, where there was a fortification of earth-work, which was plainly to be seen fifty years ago. The next important battle was fought on the Tittabawassee, just above the farm on which the late James Fraser first settled when he came to the Saginaw Valley. Here there is a difference, as the remains of the slain were all buried in one mound, and it is a very large one. After the extermination of the whole nation, with the exception of the twelve families before spoken of, a council of the allies was then held to know what should be done with them. Some were for torturing and killing, others for sparing their lives. Finally it was agreed they should be sent west of the Mississippi, and an arrangement was made with the Sioux that no tribe should molest them, and the Sioux should be responsible for their protection, which agreement was faithfully kept. The conquered country, of which the present Saginaw Valley is a part, was then divided among them all, as a common hunting ground. But a great many who came here to hunt never returned nor were ever heard of. It became the opinion of the Indians that the spirits of the dead Sauks still haunted their hunting grounds and were killing off their hunters, when in fact it was a few Sauks, who had escaped the massacre and still lingered around their hunting grounds, watching for straggling hunters and killing them whenever an opportunity occurred. Ton-dog-a-ne, and Indian chief who died in 1840, told me he killed a Sauk while hunting, when a boy. This must have been over one hundred years ago, and up to a few years ago the Indians still believed there was a Sauk in the vicinity. They had seen the place where he had made his fires and slept. I have known them to get together and not hunt for several days, for the reason, they said, there was a Sauk in the ewoods;; they had seen where he had slept. I used to laugh at them, but it was of no avail; you could not make them believe otherwise. But to go back to the Indian tradition: The country was considered as haunted, and no more Indian came here to hunt, although game was abundant
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Finally it was converted into what would be termed among civilized nations a 'penal colony;' every Indian who committed a crime would flee, or be banished, to the haunted hunting grounds (Saginaw Valley) to escape punishment, for the Indian laws were more severe and strict than now. 'This was long before we became degraded by coming in contact with the whites,' said the Indian. The Chippewas becoming the most numerous, finally their language predominated, and to the present time the Indians in the Saginaw Valley do not speak in all respects the same as the Chipewas on Lake Superior, from which they originally sprung; showing that the missing of different nations in the Saginaw Valley has been the cause of the same. Put-ta-gua-sa-mine said his grandfather told it to him when he was a boy, which was ninety years before, and that it had been handed down to his grandfather from his ancestors, and it was a custom with him to repeat it often to his people, so that the tradition or history should not be lost; and a successor was always appointed in case the traditionist should die, that the history of the nation should not be lost, and be handed down from generation to generation. I have talked with two other old Indians on the same subject, and their tradition is precisely the same, word for word, with one exception; they say the battles on the Flint were fought by the army coming from Detroit. I have no doubt the above is a correct narrative—as much so as if it had been written at the time hand handed down to us as a matter of history."
In confirmation of the foregoing theory regarding the Sauks, Maj. Long, in his expedition to the sources of the St. Peters River. In 1823, on an exploring expedition by order of the United States Government, when he came amongst the Sauks on that river, says of their origin that the Sauks have not always resided where they are at the present time. Their tradition is that they formerly lived upon Saginaw Bay, of Lake Huron. They consider the name of their nation to be connected with that of Saginaw Bay, and probably derived from it. They have no account of any former migration, but entertain the opinion that the Great Spirit created them in that vicinity.
It has been claimed that the Sauks were totally exterminated in this massacre, but the preponderance of evidence is in favor of the account as given by Mr. McCormick.
The Chippewas remained in undisputed possession of the Saginaw Valley until the treaty of 1819.
TREATIES WITH THE INDIANS.
The first treaty of importance, which was made for the extinguishments of the Indian title to the soil of what now comprises the state of Michigan, was the one entered into by William Hull, then governor of Michigan, as a territory, and ex-officio superintendent of Indian affairs, with the natives at Detroit, in 1807, when a tract of land in the south-eastern part of the state was ceded by them to our government. Detroit and a belt of land adjacent to it lying along the river and lake, six miler in width, were not affected by this grant, we having before that succeeded to the possessory rights of Great Britain to the District of Detroit, so called, which she had held for a series of years, co-extensive with the claims of her predecessor, France; and which by the treaty of Greenville, made by General Wayne, on behalf of our government, in 1895, had been reassured to and made perfect n us. With that exception, the title to the south-easterly part of our state was obtained from the natives by the treaty of 1807.
The northerly line of this grant included only small portions of what are now the counties of Lapeer and Genesee, and was a little north of their southern boundaries, thus leaving Saginaw River and its principal affluents, the Flint, the Cass, etc., entirely unaffected by the provision of that treaty. This portion of the state remained in Indian possession, with the rights of the natives intact and unaffected, until the treaty of Saginaw of 1819.
In that treaty the Saginaw region was particularly interested, for the cession of lands then made by the natives, with the reservations therein provided for, include the rich and flourishing valleys of the Saginaw and its tributaries.
General Call was commissioned to act as the agent of the general government in securing to it this important addition to our territory. He appeared upon the Saginaw, upon the site of what is now Saginaw City, September 10, 1819, accompanied by a staff of interpreters and assistant.
The conference lasted ten or twelve days, and witnessed many stormy scenes, but the terms of treaty were at length calmly discussed, and agreed to. The harmonious adjustment of their differences was reached chiefly through the instrumentality of Stephen V. R. Riley, an Indian trader, who married a squaw, and Jacob Smith, another trader. In the treaty agreed to, the Indians ceded to the United States all but 40,000 acres of their territory, reserved for the benefit of the tribe in common.
Mr. Riley's children were regarded by the Indians as natives of the forest. During his residence among the Chippewas Mr. Riley exercised great influence over them, and such was his power over them that it was found necessary on the part of the United States to conciliate him before a favorable treaty could be made. That was done by allowing him to select six hundred and forty acres for each of his three sons, named respectively John, Peter, and James. He located his eldest and favorite son, John, on a tract one mile square, now included in the limits of Bay City. The 40,000 acres reservation for the benefit of the tribe in common was upon the west side of the river, on a portion of which West Bay City is built. From this it would seem that the region of country about the mouth of the Saginaw River was a favorite locality of the Indians. There were other reservations for the benefit of different persons including Mr. Riley's two other sons, and the half-breed children of Jacob Smith.
In 1837 another treaty was made with the Indians, in which they ceded to the United States the 40,000 acres belonging to the tribe in common. According to the terms of this treaty the government was to cause the land to be surveyed and put into market at $5.00 per acre, and lheld at that price for a certain length of time, and then what remained unsold should be reduced to a minimum of $2.50 per acre, and the Indians to receive the avails of the sales after deducting the costs of survey and sale, and a large amount advanced to them with which to pay their debts.
The chiefs who visited Washington to perfect this sale were O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, Ton-dog-a-ne, Sha-e-be-no-se, Wos-so, Mose-ga-skink, Ma-sha-way and Nau-qua-chic-a-me. The white men were Henry O. Connor, Capt. Joseph F. Marsac, and Charles Rodd, a half-breed, as interpreters, and Gardner D. and Benjamin O. Williams.
The result of this visit was that Mr. Schoolcraft was ordered to call a meeting at Flint, for the purpose of concluding the treaty, which was done. It was during this visit that President Jefferson presented O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to with the colonel's uniform, in which he was buried, as described in the reminiscence concerning him.
After 1837 the original proprietors of the soil in the valley gradually decreased in number. Many went to the reservation at Isabella, and death thinned their ranks. Nau-qua-chic-a-me, the chief of the Chippewas, after the death of his father finally took his band to Bau-gan-ing, and there died in October, 1874. James Cloud, the Indian clergyman of Indiantown, on the Kawkawlin River, has been pastor there for fifteen yeas, receiving barely nothing for his labors. Fifteen years ago, he says, there were as many as 1,600 Indians in the Saginaw Valley , while now there are scarcely 900 in the aggregate.
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REMINISCENCE OF O-GE-MA-KE-GA-TO.
The following interesting reminiscence is taken form the Bay City Tribune, of August 16, 1877:--"The discovery of the remains of the celebrated Chippewa chieftain, O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, was noted in the Tribune of Thursday last. On Sunday afternoon we visited the residence of William R. McCormick, and took a look at the skeleton of one of the most noted Indian characters of his day. There are a number of residents of this city who well remember the chief, and many reminiscences have been related to us since the publication of the item on Thursday last. Mr. McCormick knew him well, also bounds to his eloquence. He heard him speak (some forty years ago) for two hours to a gathering of 1,000 Indians on the Flint River, and during all that time his hearers sat apparently spell-bound. At the time Gen. Cass ws negotiating the treaty of 1819 O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, although only twenty-five years of age, was head chief of the Chippewa nation, and as such was
THE CENTRAL INDIAN FIGURE
at the council. He was over six feet in height, and in his bearing graceful and handsome; and although in the later years of his life he was often seen intoxicated, he never fully lost a look of conscious dignity which belonged to his nature as one of the original lords of the soil. In true eloquence he was probably hardly surpassed by the Seneca chief, Red Jacket. His band lived at the forks of the Tittabawassee, and like Red Jacket he wore upon his breast a superb government medal.
THIS MEDAL
was of an oblong shape, fully five inches in length and one quarter of an inch thick, and was composed of pure silver. On one side was the figure of an Indian chief in full dress, and on the other what was intended to represent the president of the United States, with the following inscription: --Presented to O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to by Thomas Jefferson."
THE TREATY OF 1819
Was a very important one, as this portion of the state was then in Indian possession, and the object of the government was the cession by the natives of the vast tract in which was included the rich and flourishing valleys of the Saginaw and its tributaries. The chief speaker for the Indians was O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, and he opposed the proposition of Gen. Cass, with indignation. Said he:
"You do not know our wishes. Our people wonder what has brought you so far from your homes. Your young men have invited us to come and light the council fire; we are here to smoke the pipe of peace, but not to sell our lands. Our American father wants them. Our English father treats us better. He has never asked for them. You flock to our shores; our waters grow warm; our lands melt like a cake of ice; our possessions grow smaller and smaller. The warm wave of the white man rolls in upon us and melts us away. Our women reproach us; our children want homes. Shall we sell from under them the spot where they spread their blankets? We have not called you here; we smoke with you the pipe of peace."
The treaty was finally made, and the Indians returned to their lodges.
The Chippewa nation was then comprised of ten or twelve bands, each governed by a hereditary chieftain. These chiefs formed a council which governed the nation and elected the ruling chief. Annually. O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to was not a chief by blood, but his remarkable intellectual qualities, as well as his undaunted courage, made him a power amoung his dusky people, and at the early age of twenty-five he was the leading spirit. Gen. Cass was surprised at the remarkable brain power of the man, and remarked that he was "the smartest and most eloquent Indian he had ever met." His administration of the affairs of his people was so satisfactory that for over
THIRTY CONSECUTIVE YEARS
he was annually re-elected to the position of head chief. He never ruled a single band until in the later years of his life, when he became chief of the Tittabawassee band, to which he belonged.
His power of oratory made him a great favorite with his people, and the fame of O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to spread far and wide. Subsequently, at the ratifying of the reservation treaty, at Detroit, many learned and able lawyers were present, not one of whom, after hearing his great speech interpreted, dared to accept his challenge to discuss the questions affecting the Indians' welfare with him.
After the treaty of Saginaw had been ratified and the Indians had become reconciled to the encroachment of the white man, O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to ws quite friendly, and like an honorable man endeavored to fulfill his obligations to the new comers under the treaty.
MANY ASTOUNDING STORIES
are told by the old settlers regarding his bravery and fortitude, some of which surpass belief. Mr. McCormick says that about 1835 two members of the Tijttabawassee band had a disagreement while under the influence of liquor, and drew their knives for a settlement of the difficulty, according to the aboriginal code. O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to, who was standing near them, immediately jumped between the combatants and received a knife thrust in his side. The cut was so large and deep that a portion of his liver protruded, and in this condition he lay for several days. One afternoon he took a knife laying by his side, and in the presence of several Indians, sliced off a portion of his own liver, threw the piece on the coals and roasted it, and then ate it. Turning to those present, he said:--"If there is a braver man in the Chippewa Nation than I am, I should like to see him."
This story incredible as it is, Mr. McCormick says can be well attested by Joseph Trombley, E. S. Williams, of Flint, and Peter Grewett, now of Gratiot County, all of whom were Indian traders at that time. Judge Albert Miller, now of Bay City, also recollects the circumstance at the time.
As we have stated, O-ge-ma-ke-ga-to ruled the Chippewas until 1839 or 1840, when death stepped in and robbed the dusky nation of its wisest, most eloquent and bravest member.
HE DIED AT SALZBURG,
and was buried in the mound in front of Mr. McCormick's residence. At that time lumber was scarce in the Saginaw Valley, and a board was of more value then than now. Joseph Trombley was building the Center House, yet standing on the corner of Twenty-fourth and Water Streets, the lumber for which was all brought from Detroit. Mr. Trombley liked the old chief,k and made the family a present of a single board, out of which was constructed a rough box coffin, and the burial took place with more pomp and spender than had previously fallen to the lot of an Indian corpse.
HIS GRAVE WAS MARKED
in after years, when lumber became more plenty and consequently cheaper, by erecting over it a small wooden house, surmounted by a flag staff. As the years rolled by his grave cover became dilapidated, and finally Mr. Thomas Stevenson, who built his house close by , obliterated it entirely. When he was buried there was nothing but and Indian trail along the bank, and after the little house was torn down all trace of the grave was lost, and as the land became tilled it was plowed over.
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Search had been made for the last two or three years to find it, by Mr. McCormick and others, but always unsuccessfully. Its accidental discovery while digging a cellar, has revived memories of the old aboriginal monarch, and many persons have visited Mr. McCormick's residence to interview him upon the subject.
The coffin was badly decayed, --nothing remaining but a few pine knots. The colonel's uniform, presented to him by the President of the United States, and in which he was buried, was found to be in a remarkable state of preservation. It was by this uniform that the remains were identified as being those of the noted chief. His little kettle was bottomless and badly demoralized by rust, and the medal was not to be found; but his tomahawk, knives, pipes, etc., were by his side.
The remains were taken possession of by the man who was digging the cellar, and kept by him on exhibition for some time. His descendants, and other Indians in the vicinity, were much incensed at what they regarded as an indignity to a great man, and requested Mr. McCormick to take possession of the remains and have them decently buried. Mr. McCormick, who talked their language fluently, complied with their request, and buried the remains in his own door yard. Mr. E. B. Denison, of Bay City, has presented him with a stone which marks the last resting-place of the once noted chief of the Chippewas.