Essence Of Emmet Part 1

Essence of Emmet

A four-part historical series about Emmet County, Michigan

PART I: Pre-contact through 1812

▪ An introduction to the Essence of Emmet

I

was not lucky enough to have been born in Emmet County. I had to search most of my lifetime to discover this special place. But once I found it, I moved in and put down my roots. I will not leave.

Like a perfect spring flower or a sparkling Christmas ornament, it was the eye-catching beauty that captured me. But once here I became fascinated with those who came before me; those who, like me, were not born here but came. Some came by choice, some came because they were sent – some stayed, some withdrew.

Who were they?

Over the decades that I have lived here, I have been fortunate to find a cohort of folks equally fascinated by our predecessors. In recent years these likeminded people have come together into a loose alliance to celebrate and market our county history. We call ourselves the Essence of Emmet and we represent all of the historical societies in Emmet County. We work to bring our history alive, to present it to the public in annual presentations at the Fairgrounds in Petoskey, and to market it to the world through our geocache Look for timelines at the top trails, brochures, press releases and other tools of modern communication. of articles to help orient you Now we want to put together something more permanent, a series of magazines to when these stories were reporting on some of the more interesting folks who lived here before us, spiced taking place. with tidbits of their lives. We have named this magazine after ourselves, Essence of Emmet. We are planning a four-part production: four annual magazines beginning in 2014.

This first edition fell under my guidance because it, too, celebrates people who chose to come to Northwest Michigan. It highlights our history from the retreat of the glaciers 10,000 years ago, until the Americans were making the last effort to be fully in charge in 1812. Because historians divide time by wars, this is the period that includes the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. This edition starts with the arrival of the first inhabitants, folks we now lump under the heading of Indians; then the arrival of the first foreigners, the French; a war with the second foreigners, the English, called the French and Indian War; then ultimately the English battling for control against the new all-American amalgamation of backgrounds in the Revolutionary War. Read on to discover some our “characters.” If you enjoy this effort, you should watch for the three future editions. We have broken the ensuing publications into the period between the War of 1812 and the First World War; then between the First World War and the 1960s; and finally from the 1960s to present-day. But for now, let’s meet some of the earlier folks who made Emmet County their home.

Dr. Sandra L. Planisek

Mackinaw City historian, author and Essence of Emmet member

the Essence of Emmet

To learn more about the organizations, visit www.emmetcounty.org The organizations involved in the Essence of Emmet include: Emmet County, Emmet County Historical Commission, Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, Harbor Springs Area Historical Society, Inland Water Route Historical Museum, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Little Traverse Historical Society, Mackinac State Historic Parks, Mackinaw Area Historical Society and the Pellston History Museum.

contents Setting the Stage for Change ▪ 4

Waganakising ▪ 6 Celestial phenomena ▪ 7 Glaciers dig us ▪ 9 Charles de Langlade ▪ 12 Contributing writers & editors 2014 edition of Essence:

Sandra L. Planisek, Emmet County Historical Commissioner Beth Anne Eckerle, Emmet County Communications Director Mary Cummings, Harbor Springs Area Historical Society Eric Hemenway, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians MaryAnn Moore, Mackinaw Area Historical Society Craig Wilson, Mackinac State Historic Parks Dr. Todd Harburn, Mackinac State Historic Parks Phil Porter, Mackinac State Historic Parks Laurie Gaetano, Emmet County Parks & Recreation Director Mary Stewart Adams, Program Director at International Dark Sky Park at the Headlands

Publication design:

Beth Anne Eckerle, Emmet County Communications Director Sandra L. Planisek, Emmet County Historical Commissioner

Memoir of a French and Indian War Soldier ▪ 15 Dubious distinction for George Etherington ▪ 17 A dash of culinary history ▪ 20 Warrior poet: Arent DePeyster ▪ 22 Odawa place names ▪ 25

Jean Baptiste Assiginack ▪ 26 Thomas Nuttall is Straits first botanist ▪ 29 Surveyor Aaron Greeley ▪ 31 Shab-eh-nay: A hero ▪ 33

Which is proper: Indian, Native American ... or neither? ▪ 35

Cover and back-page photos: Dennis Keyes of Dennis Keyes Photography, www.denniskeyesphotography.com Printed thanks to funding support from the Local Revenue Sharing Board and the Emmet County Board of Commissioners.

Volume I published in 2014. Additional volumes will be published annually. For information on obtaining copies or reprinting, contact Beth Anne Eckerle, Emmet County, (231) 348-1704 or beckerle@emmetcounty.org.

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The Stage for Change

By Sandra L. Planisek

The Ebb and Flow

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ne summer about 10,000 years ago some families ventured north and rejoiced upon arrival because they were the first to visit beautiful Emmet County. They were not on a sightseeing vacation, but what a sight it must have been. A wall of ice defined the end of the world. It was a mile high, as far as you could see, but retreating quickly. Water was flowing off its face and from under its feet. A blue ocean of water to the west, spread as far as you could see. The land was soggy wet, relieved by a few hummocks with young tress and patches of grass and flowers.

Opportunity was there.

Robert Griffing painting

These folks were on a hunting trip. It was summer migration season and the mastodons and woolly mammoths were on the move, lumbering north to catch the tasty spring flowers. The first people were not far behind, stalking a meal. It was a flow north, quickly followed by the ebb south as the season cooled. This rhythm of summer visits continued even after the mammoths and mastodons went extinct, other smaller game and the continuing beauty of the cool north climate drew families north each summer. This cycle went on for years, 10,000 years; it continues today.

A multitude of indigenous populations have called the Great Lakes home for these thousands of years. From the Anishnaabek (Odawa, Ojibway and Potawatomi) to the Haudenosaunee (League of Iroquois) to the Wyandot (Huron) and dozens of other tribal nations, the Great Lakes are essentially the origin of these tribes' existence.

Intricate relationships between individual tribes were created, built on trade, war and marriage. Precise understanding and co-existence with the rich and diverse environment of the Great Lakes were also established. Centuries upon centuries of knowledge pertaining to agriculture, fishing, hunting and utilization of natural resources enabled all these diverse and independent tribal communities to exist. Just as importantly, a sacred connection was established to the land. Burials of ancestors and landscapes with ceremonial connections were everywhere. When the first Europeans arrived in the 16th century, thousands of years of balance were about to be altered, forever.

When the subsistence economy of the Indians was supplemented by the contractual-worker economy of the French soldier then and only then did year-round residents appear. The transition to work-for-hire changed everything in the Straits. Scrambling for cash rather than food changed the motives, changed the lifestyle, and changed the importance of Emmet County. To step back for a moment to see the big picture, the economy in France around 1700 was under stress. The extensive French military expansion of the previous half century required substantial tax payments and farmers were stretched to the point of starvation. Young men could not afford to marry; they could barely support themselves. By enlisting in the French military many secured a steady source of food, supplemented with a little cash. These soldiers were put to help the French government that was searching for new colonies, colonies that would not only be self-sufficient but would produce a cash crop to supplement the French treasury. Northern Michigan was envisioned as such a place; furs were the crop.

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Soldiers arrived in 1715 and set up a trading post, a year-round operation, at Mackinaw City. Suddenly the lands around Emmet County were the topic of discussion not just among Indians in southern Michigan but among the major governments in Europe. Our beavers, foxes, minks, and other mammals made us an international destination.

Once an enlistment was over the retiring French soldier could return home but many, many had no reason to return to France. They saw profits in furs and slid out of military life into the life of a local resident participating in some way in the fur trade. Since these were single men they married the local gals and Emmet County, from Mackinaw to Petoskey was populated with mixed-blood, year-round residents working as independent contractors for the fur trading companies.

The fur exports attracted the interest of the English. A European war, with Emmet County as part of its focus, was won by the English and they arrived in the Straits in 1761 to supplant the French. The French soldiers were transferred away, but the earlier retirees stayed. This was their home; so the cultural mix of the area became more diverse.

The ties to the European nations of France, England, and Scotland were supplemented by the ties to the Indian nations of the Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawatomie and Huron. Such a cultural mix created a robust economy, giving local residents access to the products of the world.

Although the speed of the Internet could not be matched, the availability of products could. You could buy anything, made anywhere.

This exuberant economy was augmented by a growing fishing industry and everything seemed fine until across the country the second, third, even fourth generation of those living here started to envision themselves as different from their ancestors - they were no longer French, English, or even Indian, they were Americans. The resulting war, the American Revolution, whisked Emmet County clean. Everyone moved to Mackinac Island leaving only a few yearround residents, perhaps a few hundred Indians, mixed-bloods and perhaps less than 10 European individuals in the county.

About the writer Dr. Sandra L. Planisek is the 2013 winner of the American Association of State and Local History Leadership Award. She serves on Emmet County’s Historical Commission, the Mackinaw Area Historical Society, and Mackinaw City Village Council.

She has written a few history books.

This edition of Essence of Emmet magazine ends at this time of relative desolation, the county devoid of year-round residents. The summer visitors again dominated, and even they tended to go to Mackinac Island for entertainment and relaxation.

As just a hint, the population of Emmet County did not really rebound until after the Civil War. But that is a story for the next edition of the magazine. â–Ş

Photo credit French re-enactment soldiers: Dennis Keyes/Dennis Keyes Photography

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WAGANAKISING Land of the Crooked Tree

By Eric Hemenway, LTBB Odawa

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he area known today as Emmet County, Mich., like many other areas in the United States, has gone by more than one name over the course of time.

The original county name was Tonedagana, named after an Odawa chief from Cross Village. But in 1843 the county’s name changed to Emmet, in honor of Robert Emmet, an Irish nationalist. Emmet County officially organized in 1853 and has retained that name ever since.

But Emmet County had a very distinctive designation before the arrival of European and later, American settlers.

The indigenous people to Northern Michigan, the Odawa, had their own name for this special area. Waganakising or “Land of the Crooked Tree” was, and still is to this very day, a very significant area for the Odawa people. The French, who would be the first European visitors to the area, would not try to rename it. They simply called it the “Land of the Crooked Tree” which in French is “L’Arbre Croche.”

Many early French and British maps have the area of L’Arbre Croche plainly designated. It would be one of the most significant political and village settlements in the entire Great Lakes. French officials would come here to conduct business during the late 1600s and early 1700s with the Odawa and their close kin, the Ojibway. Pontiac’s famed war would have ties to Waganakising in 1763, as Odawa from there, under the leadership of Odawa war chief/ French officer Charles Langlade, would secure over a dozen British soldiers who survived the attack at Fort Michilimackinac and transport them to safety in Montreal. Later, from 1831-33, the famed missionary Frederic Baraga carried out his mission work at the southern end of Waganakising, at Harbor Springs.

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Important Odawa leaders, such as Assiginack, Mookmanish, Kishigopenasi, Makadepenasi, Charles Langlade, Nissawaquat, Augustin Hamlin and Andrew J. Blackbird have all called the Land of Crooked Tree home.

Part of what makes this area so fascinating, beyond its historical relevance, is the cultural importance the Land of the Crooked Tree has to the Odawa. The land was once marked by a massive pine that was bent out over the water near Middle Village (Good Hart). This tree, thought to be misshaped by spirits, marked the homelands of the Odawa and served as a sign to any traveler on Lake Michigan that you have entered into one of the principal village of the Odawa. Many tribes from the Great Lakes came to hold councils at Waganakising to discuss war, peace, trade and alliances; upon seeing the great bent tree, they knew they had arrived. But sadly, the tree was cut down and its exact location has become lost to memory. While the location of the tree is lost, the overall message of the Crooked Tree is not.

A journey inland from the shoreline of Waganakising, one will discover other crooked trees. The Odawa would purposely misshape young maple trees at significant locations within Emmet County. Some can still be seen today, along Old Horton Bay Road near Bay Shore, which is an old Odawa village. These trees were cut down their main-stem at a certain age in their development. The trees would recover but the main trunk would not fully develop. Instead, large side branches would grow outward, resembling a large hand with its palm up. These trees would be used as trail markers and also to identify significant areas to the Odawa.

The Land of the Crooked Tree is so much more than a single tree that once existed along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The crooked tree took many forms here and had multiple meanings. Whether it was to identify a landing spot, a council area, a trail marker or a tree created through divine purpose to signify Odawa homelands, the crooked tree’s significance is still alive and well to this day. The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians have lived in Emmet County, continually, since 1742 and have called the area home for centuries prior.

The tribe achieved reaffirmation of its federal status in 1994.

Upon embarking on its right to self-government, the Odawa developed its own constitution. In their constitution, they honor their ancestors, their Anishnaabek beliefs and their homelands as identifying as “Waganakising Odawak,” or “Land of the Crooked Tree Odawa.” ▪

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American

Observations on

Celestial phenomenon

through cultures & time

▫ Place to Ponder

The International Dark Sky Park at the Headlands, Mackinaw City, provides an exceptional locale for contemplating the cosmos and humanity's interpretation of the night sky over the centuries.

Aurora photograph Shawn Stockman-Malone/Lakesuperiorphoto.com

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By Mary Stewart Adams, Program Director at the International Dark Sky Park at the Headlands

elestial phenomena have been used by every culture around the world through the millennia to guide, govern, warn and teach individuals as well as tribes and nations: Eclipses portended danger or opportunity; the evening star brought wisdom or war; the rare movements of Venus in front of the Sun allowed for calculating the Earth-Sun distance.

In our own age, and with the use of deep space telescopes, satellites and computers, astronomers are discovering planets orbiting other stars in far-flung galaxies, while closer to ‘home’ the Curiosity Rover checks for water on Mars, and NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) orbits the Moon, researching dust in its atmosphere and measuring for sustainability.

Through it all, one thing remains clear: Humanity has always sought to understand the mystery of life on Earth by looking at ~ and reaching into ~ the celestial environment for an answer. The changing beliefs about our relationship to the celestial world from one age to the next, and how this information is shared, is the narrative of humanity’s striving toward greater civilization.

Contemporary ideas regarding our place in the cosmic order rarely enjoy universal acceptance, and even today

there is a persistent divide between the scientific and religious explanations of our place in the grand scheme of things.

From The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents ~ Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France from 1610 to 1791, there is a remarkable account of a single specific celestial event that reveals how the native understanding of time and environment was influenced away from a more instinctive sense of the harmony they believed prevailed between man and nature, to an understanding governed by intellect, reason and foreign religious belief (please note the language used is directly from the document referenced above and does not reflect current terminology):

On the 21st of January, 1671, one or two hours before sunset, a rare parhelion was seen at Bay des Puans (now Green Bay, WI - nearly 250 miles west of the Straits area).

High in the air was seen a great Crescent, its horns pointing Heaven-ward; while on the two sides of the Sun were two other Suns, at equal distances from the real one, which occupied the middle. It is true, they were not entirely revealed, as they were covered in part by a rainbow-hued cloud, and in part by an intense white radiance, which prevented the eye from clearly distinguishing them. When the Savages saw this, continued on next page

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Parhelion photo in Emmet County by Joan Sorenson/Harbor Springs

Celestial phenomena cont'd

they said that it was the sign of a severe cold spell and indeed the following days were extremely cold ...

On March 16 of the same year, the same Parhelion showed itself in three places more than fifty leagues apart. It was seen at the Mission of St Ignace at Missilimackinac, where three Suns appeared, seeming to be about half a league from one another. The following three circumstances were noted by us.

First, they became visible twice on the same day, ~ namely, in the morning, an hour after the Sun rose; and in the evening, an hour before it set. Second, that one of the three which in the morning was toward the South, was found in the evening toward the North; and furthermore, the one which in the morning was toward the North, was seen in lower position than the one in the middle; while in the evening, having changed and taken the South side, it was situated higher than the real Sun. The third circumstance has to do with the shape of the two false Suns; for the one toward the South seemed so well formed that it could hardly be distinguished from the real one, except that, on the side from the latter, it appeared to be adorned with a band of scarlet. The other, however, which was on the left, had much more the appearance of an ovalshaped Iris than of a Sun, although it was very evidently a representation of one…yet was crowned with a sort of gold-fillet, which gave it a very beautiful aspect…

The Savages, who regard all such unusual things as Spirits, and who held that these Spirits are married, asked the Father who instructed them whether these were the Sun’s wives, that he was observing with such curiosity. He told them that the maker of all things wished to instruct them concerning the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, and to disavow them by means of the very Sun that they worshipped ...

A parhelion is an on-going phenomenon that occurs most commonly in the winter months and appears like a distinct and radiant splash of rainbow color on either side of the Sun and equidistant to it (sometimes called

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‘sun dogs’). Contemporary science describes it as sunlight shining through cirrus clouds composed of hexagonal crystals, though on rare occasions, an entire sphere of color encircling the Sun can be seen.

What makes the parhelion of 1671 so significant is the way in which, through the benefit of time, this single phenomenon reveals that it is not the phenomenon itself, rather it is the dominant cultural belief of a people that defines the intangible celestial environment in which we find ourselves. Where the people indigenous to this area saw the wives of the Sun in this phenomenon, the Jesuit missionaries saw the Holy Trinity. Further, the missionaries then used this experience to influence the women of the tribe to pray and to have their children baptized.

The year 1671 occurred during an unusual period of solar activity known as the Maunder Minimum, a 72-year cycle from 1645 to 1715 when there were so few sunspots that a mini ice age swept through much of Europe and North America ~ this was, perhaps, the same cold that the people native to the Straits area were aware of simply by watching the celestial phenomenon. The first telescope had only recently been used (in 1609 by Italian astronomer Galileo), confirming the physical nature of the celestial objects seen in the sky, and removing the veil from the idea that the planets and stars were actually spiritual beings ‘speaking’ to humanity through their movements.

By 1671, the French had been using the Gregorian Calendar, instituted by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to adjust the calculation for the date of Easter, for nearly 100 years. The British, who arrived in the Straits area in the 1760s, only adopted this calendar in the 1750s, nearly 200 years after France. With their new method for calculating time, and their own beliefs regarding the environment, each of these cultures swept through the area, leaving an impression that has altered the nature of indigenous life ever since.

Today, the average human being is capable of seeing between 7-10,000 objects in the night sky. With the use of modern technology, astronomers can now identify more than 900 million objects in our celestial environment. The descriptions coming to us regarding these objects are much like the description above, where explorers with a certain set of ideas attempt to render their experience for those who do not have access to what is being seen, and in this rendering, cultural beliefs are influenced, civic practice is informed and new worlds are influenced and altered to accommodate our own perceptions.

Just as the explorers and missionaries of the 17th century were the story tellers of their age, so, too, are the astronomers of contemporary culture, telling a story that, through time, will alter according to wider experience of humanity’s place in the cosmic whole. ▪

Carving out the story of

Northwest Michigan

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Ice Age tour route scours the early coast

laciers put Little Traverse Bay on the map, literally. Almost every natural landform in northern Lower Michigan is the result of glaciation during the Ice Age, known by geologists as the Pleistocene Epoch. Beginning about two million years ago, a series of four “continental” glaciations occurred with warm interglacial periods in between. The glaciers were more than one mile thick. They scraped, scoured, and transformed the landscape. Their ponderous weight actually depressed the Earth’s surface. Like giant conveyor belts, they carried and deposited materials here that originated far away. The most recent one (named the Wisconsin Glaciation) lasted from about 70,000 until just 11,600 years ago, when most modern landscape features came into being.

The Northern Michigan landscape is characterized by a mosaic of diverse features such as steep, high recessional moraines; rolling ground moraine; flat, level outwash deposits (from melt water streams) and lake plains (created by post-glacial levels of the Great Lakes); ice-block depressions (kettles); eskers; drumlins; as well as lakes, streams, wetlands, and sand dunes.

The following tour was developed as an accompaniment to an annual community education event organized by SEE-North (a now-defunct educational nonprofit that closed its doors in 2008) to explore and showcase the ice age features of the PetoskeyHarbor Springs area. A portion of the tour is presented here with specific locations in and around Emmet County that highlight our glacial landscape features.

Magnus Park on Little Traverse Bay, 901 W. Lake Street, Petoskey

An outcrop of limestone bedrock is visible along this stretch of shoreline. These rocks are a small part of many layers of limestone and shale (miles deep) formed between 570 and 330 million years ago (the Devonian Period) in warm, productive equatorial seas covering what is now Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Although this bedrock is close to the surface here, and is even more fully exposed in nearby quarries associated with the cement industry at Bay Harbor and Charlevoix, it lies deeply buried beneath glacial deposits in most locations in the Lower Peninsula.

Between 330 and two million years ago, uplift, continental drift, and erosion occurred, and river valleys developed where Lake Michigan and Little Traverse Bay are now located. The glaciers scoured, widened, and deepened those river valleys, eventually resulting in the most impressive lake system on Earth: The Laurentian Great Lakes.

After glaciation, there were a complex series of post-glacial lake levels ranging from 125 feet above to 350 feet below the present Lake Michigan level. Evidence of these post-glacial lakeshores in the form of several level-topped, steep-sided terraces (depositional features) and scarps (erosional features) can be seem across the bay at Wequetonsing, Roaring Brook, and Seven Mile Point as well as just inland from Magnus Park. Waves and currents along the modern lake beach continue to alter and shape the shoreline.

One of the most characteristic and common features resulting from glaciation is a moraine. A moraine is an unsorted mixture of material called till which ranges from clay to boulders carried and deposited by a glacier. There are several types of moraines: ground moraine, recessional moraine, and terminal moraine.

Most of the highest hills throughout Emmet, Charlevoix, and Cheboygan counties are recessional moraines resulting from a temporary pause in the glacier’s melting. A high recessional moraine (appearing as three distinct hills, two of which are the location of Boyne Highlands and Nub’s Nob ski resorts) can be seen across the bay.

continued on page 10

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Carving out the landscape The hills are separated by outwash valleys formed by torrential melt water streams that carried and deposited stratified layers of sand and gravel. This high area was actually an island (called “Brutus Island” by geologists) during one post-glacial lake stage known as Lake Algonquin (about 10,00011,600 years ago) much like the Beaver Island group is situated off the mainland today.

The “peaks” of the two ski hills rise to an elevation of 1,330 feet, or about 750 feet above Lake Michigan. This is also about the thickness of the moraine deposits atop the bedrock. The glacial ice scoured Lake Michigan to a maximum depth of 924 feet, or about 170 feet deeper than those hills are high above the water (and well below sea level).

A series of lower but steeper hills can be seen at the east end of Little Traverse Bay, where Petoskey State Park is located. These are forested sand dunes. Specifically, they are a type of dune called a parabolic dune, characterized by a U-shape and the presence of “blowouts”—destabilized areas devoid of vegetation. These dunes were probably created during another post-glacial lake stage about 3,000 – 4,000 years ago by a combination of exposed sand terraces, dry climate conditions, wind, and dune grass, which causes the blowing sand to accumulate vertically.

View of Walloon Lake from US 131 roadside turnout, 4.5 miles south of Petoskey

One of the main features of the landscape created by the glaciers is lakes. In fact, most of the world’s lakes were created by glaciers. There are several ways that glaciers create lakes.

Walloon Lake is probably a combination scour/ moraine-dam lake. It is a relatively large, deep and high-quality lake. Covering 4,320 acres, Walloon is Michigan’s 22nd largest lake and it measures approximately 100 feet deep. It is a marl-forming lake, a result of minerals from the limestone bedrock and the ground-up limestone in the glacial deposits being dissolved and transported to the lake via groundwater. Walloon and other similar lakes contain several “glacial relict” aquatic invertebrate organisms—arctic species “pushed” south during the ice age—that still find refuge in the cold, deep bottom waters. The presence and drainage patterns of pre- and post-glacial waters also determined the type of native fish present in northern Michigan lakes.

Walloon Lake is composed of five distinct

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continued from page 9

basins, possibly formed by small recessional moraines deposited across the scoured depression. Walloon Lake’s North Arm and “Foot Basin” in the distance are both visible from this vantage point. Erosional and depositional processes from waves, near shore currents, and ice are still at work today forming bars that could someday in the distant future actually separate Walloon’s basins into individual lakes.

M-119 – A tour along ancient shorelines

Highway M-119 travels on the flat terrace created by post-glacial Lake Algonquin all the way to Harbor Springs and comes quite close to what would then have been the beach in many places.

Try to envision ancient waves washing on the flat sand beach at the base of the steeper hills.

A deep gully can be seen in the Algonquin terrace on the outskirts of Harbor Springs, just past the intersection of Hoyt Street. This is a modern erosional feature caused by the Shay Drain, a drainage-way that flows only periodically during torrential rains or rapid snowmelt. Several times in the last century floods with a discharge about equaling that of the Bear River have flowed down the Shay Drain causing extensive damage.

A particularly high spot on the crest of the Algonquin terrace in front of Harbor Springs High School on Bluff Drive (this may have been a shallow, offshore sandbar) affords a fine view of a re-curve spit (Harbor Point), the harbor, Little Traverse Bay, and the landforms on the south side of the bay. Harbor Point was formed in the last 3,500 years as sand and gravel carried eastward by prevailing waves and long-shore currents was deflected offshore by a morainal ridge. The water between the shore and the point is about 115 feet deep, or a little deeper than you are elevated above the water at this spot.

Leaving Harbor Springs, M-119 (also known here as the Tunnel of Trees) winds north toward Good Hart and Cross Village, continuing along the Algonquin terrace. For the next four miles, M-119 follows the level terrace, quite close (too close, perhaps?) to the edge of the bluff in places. This route probably originated as a Native American footpath and then evolved into a horse or wagon trail.

Just past the south end of Lower Shore Drive, the Algonquin bluff/terrace disappears, merging with the moraine. Here, the slope was too steep and the nearshore waters too deep for a beach and

▫ Place to Ponder Emmet County's highest point: 1,325 feet, at the top of Boyne Highlands. Chairlift rides in the fall offer expansive views of the terrain of this section of Emmet County -- you can even see the Mackinac Bridge on some clear days from this vantage point. Of course, winter sports enthusiasts can take in this view all winter long as they enjoy one of the county's most popular rec areas.

terrace to form. Lower Shore Drive descends across the face of the steep bluff and then follows the terrace created by post-glacial Lake Nipissing 4,000-6,000 years ago.

The turnout just beyond the entrance to Birchwood provides a panoramic view of the Nipissing terrace and beach below, the modern beach, rocky near shore shoals, and the shoreline and moraines on the south side of Little Traverse Bay. The moraine deposits on the bluff below contain distinct layers of sand and clay with seepages, thus making it relatively unstable. In fact, several times in recent years with wet spring seasons, portions of the bluff have slumped, casing closure of the road below.

Several miles farther, a high spot near the Terpening Road intersection is a local landmark known as the Angell Farm. On a clear day, North and South Fox islands and even North Manitou Island (all part of the “Beaver Archipelago”), as well as the Leelanau Peninsula can be seen from this spot. These islands are all part of moraines, most of which lie submerged beneath the Lake Michigan waters. The elevation here is 905 feet; about 325 feet above the lake.

Beyond Angell Farm, the road descends along the route of a postglacial drainage-way that flowed off of the moraine, locally known as the Wasson Grade. At the base of Wasson Grade, also meeting the north end of Lower Shore Drive, the Nipissing bluff/terrace disappears, merging with the moraine and forming an especially high, steep bluff arising out of the modern Lake Michigan beach for a distance of several miles. M-119 continues traveling along the crest of the bluff, about 135 feet above the lake.

As you enjoy your drive through the “Tunnel of Trees,” look for these changes in elevation and imagine these glacial features and their origins thousands of years ago that carved the land we know today as Emmet County.

Hexagonaria percarinata (aka the Petoskey stone)

Note: This information was compiled by Doug Fuller, director of stewardship with the Little Traverse Conservancy. It is based on his personal interpretations of numerous published reports, communications with geology experts, and some first-hand observations. While reasonable effort has been made to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date, Mr. Fuller is not a professional geologist or recognized expert in this field. Additionally new evidence is continually being discovered by geologists and researchers and thus old interpretations are frequently revised.

Petoskey stones are evidence of a long-ago era. These rounded, gray stones have beautiful hexagonal textures when wet or polished and they single-handedly give many clues to the geologic history of our area. The repeated patterns of hexagonal cells with lines radiating out indicates to geologists that this is fossil evidence of an ancient coral colony. These, and fossils of other marine organisms found in the same layers of the local bedrock, tell us of a warm, shallow sea covering this area some 350 million years ago.

Over time those rocks would have been buried by more and more layers of rock.

Why do we find them on beaches? The repeated advances of glaciers over our area eroded the overlying rock layers. This removed hundreds of millions of years worth of rocks exposing the strata with the Petoskey stones. These same glaciers, the last of which had retreated from the area by 11,000 years ago, gave us the Great Lakes, carving the basins and supplying meltwater. The action of waves broke the larger pieces of bedrock on to smaller and rounder pieces. As the waves moved sand across the cobbles of ancient coral, they were polished. Today, many artisans polish these stones even smoother.

So this little memento tells of our area over time: shallow seas, coral reefs, ice ages, artisans and tourism. ▪

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Charles

de Langlade 1729-1800 ▪ Odawa/French military leader in 99 battles Importance: By utilizing Indian fighting techniques, he gained military success and international recognition

‘Defender of the Land’

Intro by Sandra L. Planisek

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ackinaw City has reared and disbursed a few thousand citizens over its 9,000 year history. Superlative among these is Charles de Langlade, whose entry upon history’s stage showcased his cross-cultural heritage, his stamina, his charisma and his wisdom. He was born to be the “Defender of the Land;” a role he took seriously until the day he died. He was cosmopolitan, well-traveled and multilingual, serving as a warrior, solider, father, farmer and fur trader. With 99 battles to his credit his tale is a long, complex one.

Credited as the father of Wisconsin, his story was

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written by Wisconsinite Publius V. Lawson in 1903, entitled Bravest of the Brave: Captain Charles de Langlade. What follows is the introductory chapter from that book. It is with some fear that I reproduce it since it is highly insensitive to Anishnaabek culture. It has a bluntness, a charm and an offensiveness that alert historians to the risks of putting ideas “on the record.”

So read these paragraphs for Langlade’s story; but also read them with alertness for stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. How would you re-write this story today?

What, if anything, should Emmet County do to honor this citizen?

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Swashbuckling Odawa-French leader

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harles de Langlade, born on the far frontier, where he lived all his life and died before the settler had crossed the Allegheny Mountains; fought in 99 battles, many of them the most celebrated in American colonial history; ▪ fascinated by the charm of the hunter's life, the forest was an open book to him; ▪ one who never knew fear; ▪ a matchless leader of the Indian bands of a dozen savage tribes, who followed him as children their father, hailing him as “The Bravest of the Brave;” ▪ an honest man, living in partial poverty, when by the example of speculation all about him, he could have amassed fortunes; ▪ a creole of Old Mackinaw and LaBaye, yet rose steadily by promotion until he received a commission from King Louis XV; ▪ recognized by both French and English Governors of Canada; Lawson piece, from 1903 ▪ the idol of the habitants, a simple, honest, brave man; ▪ a character of his time, whose life filled with thrilling episodes, stands out unique in the annals of the border ranger of America. the revolution.

American history has no parallel among those brave, He led the Northwest tribes to the defense of Duquesne, hardy bushmen, who beat back the wolf, panther and wild and scattering his savages through the forest, slaughtered cat, or the barbarian host of more savage men and blazed Braddock’s army; an event which made Washington a the path for the coming millions of civilization in the Great commander. Two years later his forest denizens gave the war Lakes Region and the Ohio Valley. Langlade was a pioneer, born at Old Mackinaw, and with his father located the village whoop, and charged up the hill to slaughter Grant’s of LaBaye, the future Green Bay, and became the Founder of command in defense of the same fort. He was with Montcalm in the trenches behind the abattis at Ticonderoga, Wisconsin. when Abercrombie’s army met defeat, and retreated before When yet a boy but 10 years of age, he first went out with one fifth their number. He led his savages with Montcalm to an Ottawa war party to sack a Wea town; and as soon as the capture of Fort William Henry. When Wolf(e) came to located in Wisconsin, while yet a youth, he led the habitants and Menomonee against the Fox Indians at Butte des Morts; capture Quebec, de Langlade was again in command of the and soon after scattered the Sac from the Green Bay Village. Northwest tribes, holding the passes of the Montmorency, and on two separate occasions when he saw the opportunity He was born to a soldier’s life. None were found so brave as to capture a third of the army of Wolf(e), he was denied to attack Old Britain, the head Chief of the Miami Confederacy, until word was sent to de Langlade, when he called his either support or orders to attack. At the head of his tribes on the Plains of Abraham, protected by the forest along the Ottawa and Ojibwa savages about him and marching three edge of the height, continuing to pour their deadly shot into hundred miles to the banks of the Maumee, killed the chief, and destroyed their village, thus fighting the first battle in the the English ranks, after Montcalm’s army was in retreat, they caused Wolf(e) himself to lead a charge against them, when coming French and Indian War, in which he followed every twice injured, he fell mortally wounded, where: campaign to its close, traveling more miles, and fighting more battles, than any one else, in that long and sanguinary “The path of glory, leads but to the grave.” contest, when France lost a continent, and England cradled

▫ Place to Ponder Charles de Langlade grew up in what is now the Merchant's House in the SW Rowhouse at Fort Michilimackinac, which his father, Augustin, owned. Langlade appears in a number of exhibits at the historic Fort in Mackinaw City. Next time you're there, consider the challenges Langlade faced during the 1763 attack, which is documented in the "Attack! at Michilimackinac" film. Visit www.mackinacparks.com for Fort info, hours and more details.

State Historical Society of Wisconsin

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Langlade from a 21st Century, Odawa perspective

By Eric Hemenway, LTBB

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he first section of this article looks at a portrait of Charles Langlade written over 100 years ago. The verbiage, message and style reflect the time period. It was written by a white male, with many words we deem racist and inappropriate today. The facts are there, but the story is told through a lens that often did not lend itself to an indigenous interpretation. This section, written by an Anishnaabe in 2013, will show some of the contrasts, yet, similarities in telling Langlade’s tale.

First is the identity of this warrior. Few Odawa have the reputation of a warrior as that of Charles Langlade. His Odawa name, Akiaakwaadizi, means “he who is fierce for the land;” it is a powerful indicator of who this man was. His reputation is that of legend; a legend earned through the cruelty and hardships of warfare in the Great Lakes during the 18th Century, as well as his talents in navigating European powers with those of tribal forces in the realms of commerce, politics and diplomacy. Langlade used his position in the tribal communities, as well as his standing with the French and British, to influence and shape actions throughout the Great Lakes. Very few could operate in the “middle ground” of the Great Lakes in the 1700s as well as Charles Langlade. This was largely due to the fact that Charles was both Odawa and of European descent. Many historic records show people of mixed ancestry as “Metis.” But such a label was generated by non-native people to describe tribal populations. In this version of Langlade’s story in 2013, Metis will not be used. Odawa will be, because Akiaakwaadizi had Odawa blood, was raised among the Odawa, fought with them, practiced their customs and spoke their language. He was Odawa, regardless of blood quantum.

It’s estimated he fought in 99 battles, starting when he was a boy of 10 years old when he accompanied his uncle Nissowaquet on the warpath against the Chickasaw in Tennessee, in 1739. Nissowaquet was the most powerful Odawa chief in the Great Lakes at the time and his sister, Domitilde, was Charles’ mother. Charles’ father, Augustine Langlade, was a French trader at Michilimackinac. With the blessing of his family, Nissowaquet took Charles on the warpath, believing his young nephew was gifted for war. Nissowaquet was correct, as the Odawa were victori-

ous over an adversary that had defeated them twice before and thus started a long and successful career as a warrior for Charles.

The argument can be made that when Charles led his warriors from the Upper Great Lakes, primarily Odawa and Ojibway from Mackinac, against the Miami trading post of Pickawillany, Ohio in 1752, it was the first act of the Seven Years war in North American. The Miami village, which had a number of British soldiers and traders, was attacked and destroyed by the French allied Indians.

From this point, Charles’ resume of war began to accumulate with impressive victories against the British. Braddock’s defeat at Fort Duquesne (Pittsburg, Penn.) in 1755, the fall of Fort William Henry to the French and their Indian allies in 1757 and his defeat of Robert Rogers’ Rangers in that same year are some of the more notable victories. What is not often noted are the numerous skirmishes along the frontier in which Langlade and his warriors were engaged. Their constant raiding, often hundreds of miles away from their native homelands in Michigan, rearranged the frontier.

Families of settlers would move away from the lines of battle. British officers would try to formulate strategies against the highly mobile war parties. The method of small, hit-and-run war parties - which were meant to inflict as much damage as possible while sustaining as little loss – revolutionized the way war was fought. So devastating were Langlade and his war parties that they received the ominous nickname “The Bloody Claws of New France.”

Langlade would later go on to mediate the release of British prisoners from the famed attack at Fort Michilimackinac in 1773. Here, he would use his position as a warrior as leverage to secure 17 British soldiers from Ojibway warrior chiefs Madjeckweiss and Minnavanna. Not many men could broker a deal to save British lives in the midst of hundreds of Ojibway and Sauk warriors, all while a revolt against British rule was taking place throughout the Great Lakes (Great Lakes warriors took 9 of 13 British forts in the summer of 1763, during Pontiac’s War).

The last major action Langlade saw was the American Revolution, where he used his influence to gather warriors to fight against the Americans. As his uncle predicted, his luck in battle was good and he survived this war as well. He retired from the war path to a life of trade, again utilizing his family ties from both backgrounds. Langlade’s ability to navigate so many complicated environments, populations and scenarios is a reflection as to what the Odawa had to accomplish in order to stay in their homelands of Northern Michigan. Without leaders, both women and men, such as Langlade, the Odawa may have been driven from their lands centuries ago. The Straits of Mackinac and adjoining Emmet County have been contested by many people for over five centuries. Only one group has called Emmet County home throughout this time period: The Odawa. ▪

Connections

Pittsburgh – where he fought George Washington to keep the English on the eastern seaboard Lake Champlain – where he fought Rogers Rangers to protect the waterways for the French Quebec – where he fought on the Plains of Abraham the battle where the English conquered America Cahokia – where he fought George Rogers Clark to save this land from invading Americans Green Bay – where he retreated to family life

The reaches of Langlade’s travels

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√ In their OWN words Indian

American

Charles Bonin was a French soldier during the French and Indian War. In a journal available online, he talks about life as a soldier and the landscape of the area in the mid-1700s.

Following are excerpts from his journal.

“After the Detroit River, we entered Lake Huron, which we followed westward to the Saginaw River at the mouth of which there is a bay five leagues wide, extending thirty leagues inland. At the entrance of this bay, is a village of savage Outouas, called Ottawas by the English. Five leagues farther on is Thunder Bay from which we went on to Isle aux Bois Blanc, reaching Michilimackinac August 10th. There the French had established a fort for the purpose of trading with the savages.

Fort Michilimackinac is situated at the foot of Lake Huron. The fort is surrounded by a stockade, mounted with six cannon, and has thirty men in garrison who are changed every three years, if they wish. Their only remuneration is powder and lead bullets. This is enough because they cultivate maize or Indian corn and go hunting and fishing, thus supplying their needs. Anyone who is contented there, and asks not to be transferred, is permitted to remain. I saw two men there who had stayed on, one for twenty years, and another, a Parisian, for thirty years. The soldiers of this garrison usually trade with the neighboring savages. It is known

that some, when transferred from this post, have collected and taken with them two, three, or four bundles of pelts, which they have obtained by trade with the savages.

These they sell for as much a ninety francs a pack – more or less, according to the number of furs. This will procure additional comforts for them in the place they are garrisoning. Michilimackinac, as I have already mentioned, is a rendezvous for all Canadians trading with the northern savages. Here is their point of departure and their place for exchanging furs. They usually leave Montreal in the month of June, with their canoes laden with goods. They take the northern route by the Ottawa River, which I will speak of later.

The first council was held under the guns of the fort. When the savages had assembled in a half circle, the commander of the French detachment who had presided over this council spoke to them as follows: “I was sent to you by your father Ononthio to tell you he loves all his children, and wishes to give them a token of his love by the presents that I was charged to bring you in his name. But I am also instructed to let him know your views about pledging yourself to raise the hatchet, and to go with your French brothers to fight the English. For your Father Ononthio has heard that you have listened to evil counsel, causing you to turn your arms against continued on next page

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In their own words continued your French brothers, who are as numerous as the leaves of the trees. Those you see here around me, are only a small branch of the great tree.”

After the interpreters had turned this speech into various tongues of these nations, each chief stood and spoke, one after another. All their speeches led to the same conclusion, which was that they were, and always would be, ready to march at the order of their Father Ononthio, and also that they would levy all their young men to go to war against the English, who had already deceived them, and to whom they would listen no more.

Sauteux savages. Next we entered the French River, one of the outlets of Lake Huron. We followed this river for forty leagues of its length. It is very narrow in several places, and full of falls and portages.

The river derives its name from the fact that a number of Canadian traders on their trading voyages were several times attacked there and robbed of their goods (sometimes killed) by strong parties of Iroquois who lived on these parts. The savages would lie in ambush in the places best suited to conceal the lurking foes, sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other side of the river.” ▪

The commander replied in a few words, that he was satisfied with their speeches. He had some tobacco given out, and after this distribution had been made, following their custom, they all stood up, formed a circle, and all together gave the war cry; then sat down on the ground crossing their legs in tailor fashion. They painted themselves red and black then sang the war song. ...

The third of September we left Michilimackinac in our canoes, going northeast. At the right we left behind Manitoulin Island, inhabited by two clans of Ottawa and

French explorer noted Emmet rock in 1700s letter

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bout 390 years ago, pilgrims momentously set foot on the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. and Plymouth Rock was christened an enduring symbol of American settlement. But 395 years ago, French explorers were plying the Straits of Mackinac and using a rock at least five times the size of Plymouth’s to gauge water levels as they navigated in canoes along the tumultuous waters between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Obviously the Mackinac Bridge wasn’t here when Lotbiniere passed through, but it does provide good perspective on the size of the mammoth rock, which would’ve been known as “Chi-Sin” ('large rock') to the local Odawas.

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Peninsulas. The McGulpin Rock in Emmet County has been observed since at least 1615 as an aid to navigation for French explorers around the time voyageur Etienne Brule was traveling the Great Lakes. Native Americans used it much earlier. The McGulpin Rock was mentioned in 1749 in a journal by French-Canadian voyageur Michel Chartier de Lotbiniere, who compiled sketches of the layout of Fort Michilimackinac and described the area in his writings. His journal reads, in part:

“They have observed that the waters of the Lakes have been lowering rather considerably over the past 10 years, and to prove this they showed me, at the entrance of Lake Michigan, one-half league from the fort, a large rock which now stands at least 7 feet out of water whereas ten years ago it was at water-level; they say it has become gradually more and more visible every year. The same thing was observed in Lake Superior. Older inhabitants told me that it (this phenomenon) was cyclic, that the waters go down during 10 or 12 years and then rise again to approximately the same point.” ▪

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Dubious distinction George Etherington

Article time period: 1762-1763 Who he was: British Officer fighting Indians Historical importance: Lost Fort Michilimackinac to the Indians

The officer ranks:

Lieutenant Captain Major Lieutenant Colonel

Introduction by Sandra L. Planisek

George Etherington's unique place in local history

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t's June 1763 - The French soldiers are gone and the British have been in place for a year and a half. Etherington is the third British commander, the only commander to ever lose control of the Fort. This spring at Michilimackinac four nations and their cultures meet and play their part in this transformative period in American history.

The British are treating the Indians differently than their French predecessors did, giving far less in trade goods to sustain Indian loyalty. The Indians are displeased and revolt. Four cultures, the two European cultures of France and England and two American cultures of the Chippewa and Ottawa, meet and play out their roles, leaving death, mayhem, rescue, and resolve. The action-movie quality of the event assures its persistence but the lessons are far broader.

1. Don’t underestimate others – The “primitive” Indians outwitted the specially trained British unit.

2. Cultural differences matter – The difference in French and English treatment causes the “war,” and likewise differences in Chippewa and Odawa treatment of trading partners saves Etherington.

3. Adversaries can have different motivating values – For the Indians winning was the objective, through it they gained respect; holding the land was irrelevant. Why would you want to occupy the fort when all of nature beckoned with her abundance, offering the foodstuffs for survival – a point lost on the British who continued to rely on food provided by the Indians and the homeland. continued on next page

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Etherington, entrenched in Mackinaw

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By Dr. Todd E. Harburn, Mackinac State Historic Parks

nyone who has ever driven from Petoskey through Cross Village and on to Mackinaw City through the “Tunnel of Trees” can attest to the beautiful scenery - from the breathtaking views of Lake Michigan to the majestic old forests, ending at the inspiring Straits of Mackinac. However, this beautiful landscape was undoubtedly the last thing on the mind of British Captain George Etherington, Commander of Fort Michilimackinac, in the early summer of 1763. Although he was only stationed in the area for nine months, Etherington is forever entrenched in the history of Emmet County.

George Etherington was commandant of Michilimackinac when the Chippewa Indians captured the fort during the attack of 1763. The attack is one of the most noted events in early recorded Michigan history, occurring as part of the widespread Indian uprising in the Great Lakes region, commonly known as Pontiac’s Conspiracy, the cumulative result of two years of deteriorating relations between the Indians and the English military and civil rule.

Etherington had enlisted in the British army at a young age, first serving as a drummer and later as a Sergeant Major. Apparently a wealthy widow from New Castle, Delaware became enamored of him and purchased him a commission as a Lieutenant in the newly raised Royal American Regiment in 1756.

During the French and Indian War he served in the New York area and was promoted to Captain in April 1759 due to “his good reputation,” an attribute that summarizes his career.

About the writer Dr. Todd Harburn is a sports medicine After the war, in September 1762, Etherington was given orthopedic surgeon in private practice in command of Fort Michilimackinac succeeding Lieutenant Okemos and a football team physician for William Leslye, who remained on as Etherington’s secondHope College. He and his wife are summer in-command. Etherington’s twenty-eight man garrison residents of Emmet County/Mackinaw City, where he has portrayed Capt. Etherington was supplemented by a detachment of ten Royal in the Annual Fort Michilimackinac Pageant.

American soldiers under Lieutenant John Jamet As a researcher/author/historian, he has that had been transferred from Sault Ste. Maco-authored four full-length books, including rie after a fire had destroyed that small post a biography of Etherington and one on in December 1762. The extra soldiers the British Military/Pontiac Uprising, plus numerous other publications on these topics. undoubtedly enlivened the social life during the cold northern winter but probably added Etherington was the third British commander of the fort in the two years of control since the departure of the French. He arrived in to supply challenges for the September 1762, moved his control post to L'Arbre Croche in June new 1763 and departed in July 1763. commander.

In the spring of 1763, Michilimackinac was one of the several forts captured by Indians during Pontiac’s Uprising.

Local Chippewa Indians attacked the post during a baggatiway contest and killed over half the garrison while taking the remaining soldiers, including Etherington and Leslye and three English traders, as prisoners. The survivors were taken by boat to Cross Village and given over to the custody of the local Ottawa Indians who resided there. Michilimackinac’s resident Jesuit priest Father DuJuanay maintained a chapel there as well.

Etherington and English trader Alexander Henry both provided vivid eyewitness accounts of the event. Etherington’s surviving correspondence provides interesting insights to the attack. One of Etherington’s letters to Major Gladwin at Detroit is of particular importance as it describes the initial scene: “…on the second instant the Chippewas who live in a plain near this fort, assembled to play ball, as they had done almost every day since their arrival; They play’d from morning till noon, then throwing their ball close to the gate, and observing Lieut. Leslie and me a few paces out of it, they came behind us, seized, and carried us into the woods. In the meantime the rest rushed into the fort, where they found their squaws whom they had previously planted there with their hatchets hid under their blankets, which they took and in an instant killed Lieut. Gamet [Jamet] and fifteen rank and file, and a trader named Tracy; they wounded two and took the rest of the garrison prisoner, five of which they have since killed.”

Etherington and the remaining survivors eventually made their way to safety at Montreal with the assistance of the local Ottawa Indians who were not involved in the attack and the Royal American garrison under Lieutenant James Gorrell at Fort la Baye [present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin] who Etherington had summoned to his aid. Having luckily survived, Etherington went on to resume his military career. He continued recruiting for the 60th Regiment and eventually was appointed commandant of Fort Niagara, New York from 1771-72. Etherington was then sent along with companies of the 60th to Antigua in British Caribbean, later being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

Etherington retired from the Army in 1788. An original portrait of Etherington was discovered in the late 1990’s and is maintained in the Royal Green Jackets Museum in Winchester, England. In assessing his career, it is evident that, despite his actions at Michilimackinac in 1763, Etherington retained a good reputation among his men and superior officers in completing a well-respected career in the British army. ▪ Mackinac State Historic Parks images

Kids: Make your own baggatiway stick What is the oldest sport in America? Certainly it is baggatiway, being hundreds of years old. It was the game of Native Americans, being played long before the arrival of the white man. French Europeans adopted the game and gave it the French name Lacrosse.

Games like baggatiway were common across the continent and each player made his own gear. The stick was made of the spiritually important hickory wood, often carefully carved by the owner. It was a treasured possession and men might ask that their stick be buried with them. The net was made of elm bark, leather, or deer hide; the ball was wooden or made of stuffed deer hide and was about 3 inches in diameter.

Rules for the game were settled the day before the multi-day contest began. Generally there was no out-of-bounds and the ball could not be touched with hands. The goal was to throw the ball so as to hit a large rock or tree. The hundreds or thousands of players often participated from sun up to sun down.

- Sandy Planisek

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√ A dash of culinary history Indian

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Apple Pan Dowdy

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By MaryAnn Moore, Mackinaw Area Historical Society

magine you have decided to sail across the Atlantic Ocean for the free, but gnawingly unknown, land of America.

You will depart on the next boat! What should you take: to eat…. to cook in…. to wear? What do you need to protect yourself from the environment and things that might go bump in the night?

Food is security; you eat what you know. European settlers brought the taste of their homeland with them in the form of spices, seeds, recipes and a few cooking utensils. Once they arrived in America, they twisted and contorted their recipes depending on the ingredients they could find. One versatile food was the apple.

In the 1600s, however, the time of the great migration to New England, the new farmers could only find small crab apples growing natively. Some immigrants, with fore knowledge of this problem, brought apple seeds with them while others sent home for seeds and or cuttings. Knowing that it took years for an apple tree to produce its first fruit, the colonists prioritized setting out their orchards.

Apples provided fruit, juice, cider, vinegar, apple butter and apple desserts for all the family members including the farm animals. Years later, the old apple trees could be chopped down and the wood used for making toys and furniture, or burned in the cook stove and the fireplace for warmth on cold winter days and nights.

It appears that the French soldiers brought apples and apple trees to Emmet County. Sally Eustice, author of History from the Hearth, A Colonial Michilimackinac Cookbook, states, “In the summer of 1766 Lieutenant Perkins Magra drew a map of Michilimackinac for the British command. His map included stables and fenced gardens outside the fort walls, as well as gardens within the stockade.” In historic documents, a reference was made to apples being planted “near the old garden gate.”

One of the recipes that Sally Eustice included in this cookbook was Apple Pan Dowdy (page 173), a deep-dish apple pie missing the bottom crust. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact origin of the name Pan Dowdy, but it probably refers to the dessert’s plain or “dowdy” appearance. Perhaps someone had trouble making an apple pie with a top crust that looked picture perfect and they just took a fork and crumbled up the crust to hide their culinary inabilities!

About the writer

MaryAnn Moore is a retired Life Management Education teacher.

She volunteers as the principal lighthouse keeper at St. Helena Island Light Station during the summer months, geocaches, sews and watercolor paints.

The simple ingredients

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▫ Place to Ponder

Apple Pan Dowdy Place the following in a crock: 4 cups sliced applies ¼ cup cold water 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. salt Topping: 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

Cream butter and sugar; add flour and mix lightly with a fork.

Sprinkle the topping on the apple mixture. Place crock on a trivet in a Dutch oven. Cover with lid and embers. Bake for 30 minutes.

Pack a nutritious picnic lunch, and throw in some apple pan dowdy and marshmallows and roasting sticks. Take this lunch to the Heritage Village in northern Emmet County, off Central Avenue 2 miles west of downtown Mackinaw City.

Start a bonfire in the fire pit. Eat your lunch under the picnic pavilion while enjoying the sights and sounds of the meadow. For dessert, roast a few marshmallows to top that apple pan dowdy.

Oh ... don’t forget to bring a kite!

A modern cook can place the ingredients in a casserole dish and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Set aside some time and give this recipe a try. You can use equipment from historic days – a crock and an iron Dutch oven, or just a Dutch oven and an open wood fire, or charcoal for the heat source. You could take the modern way and preheat your kitchen oven and use a casserole dish. Apple Pan Dowdy can be made with apples just picked or with those that have been stored a little too long and have started to shrivel and dry. The apples can be peeled or unpeeled and sliced or diced. Apple Pan Dowdy is delicious, especially topped with a scoop of ice cream or fresh whipped cream. And while you are smacking your lips, think about the early settlers and the stories they left that enrich our lives today. ▪

“Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy” was a song published in 1945 about Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Dinah Shore sang it and Guy Lombardo recorded it, their fame made it well known across America.

Readings: Eustice, Sally. "History from the Hearth, A Colonial Michilimackinac Cookbook," Mackinac State Historic Parks. 1997 University of Illinois Extension. “Apples and More.” University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. 2013 <http://urbanext. illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm> All early cooking was spiced with a dash of ashes. One person, with a new fancy wood stove, reported that everything tasted funny with no ash spice!

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Arent DePeyster

Article time period: 1774-1779 Who he was: Brokered peace among Indians and rallied their support against Americans

Warrior Poet: The Life of Arent DePeyster

By Craig Wilson, Mackinac State Historic Parks Mackinac State Historic Parks

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oldier. Diplomat. Poet. Such varied terms were among the many used to describe Arent Schuyler DePeyster, the British officer who commanded Fort Michilimackinac during the height of the American Revolution and who personally helped guide the course of the war in the Great Lakes.

Born in 1736 to a wealthy New York family, DePeyster received his formal education in England. Joining the British Army in 1755, the newly-minted Lieutenant DePeyster soon returned to North America to fight the French in the rapidlyexpanding Seven Yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; War. After being captured and briefly held in France as a prisoner of war, DePeyster returned to England in 1757. There, he transferred to the 8th Regiment of Foot, the infantry unit he remained with for the rest of his military career. While the regiment was posted in Scotland, DePeyster met and married Rebecca Blair. Together, they returned to North America in 1768, when the 8th transferred to Canada. After receiving his promotion to Captain, DePeyster and Rebecca spent much of their time in Quebec, where he judicated over several courts martial (including that which tried Major Robert Rogers, the disgraced former commander of Michilimackinac, in 1768) and performed a variety of other administrative duties.

After six years of uneventful service in Quebec and Montreal, the 8th received orders to take command of several British posts around the Great Lakes. Given two companies of soldiers and placed in command of the post of Michilimackinac, DePeyster and Rebecca arrived at their new home on the Straits of Mackinac in July 1774. An important fur trading center as much as a military outpost, Michilimackinac required the deft touch of a commander who could balance the interests of British merchants, French-Canadian traders, and thousands of Native Americans who traveled to the post every summer.

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Craig Wilson is the museum historian for Mackinac State Historic Parks, where he supervises interpretive activities at Colonial Michilimackinac and the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. He earned a master’s degree in industrial archaeology from Michigan Technological University and lives in Mackinaw City.

“From the merchants trading to Michilimackinac to A. S. DePeyster esq., Major to the Kings of 8th Regiment, as a testimony of the high sense they entertain of his just and upright conduct and the encouragement he gave to trade during six years he commanded at that post.”

DePeyster quickly proved more than equal to the task, even brokering a peace agreement between the Ojibwa and Sioux, tribes traditionally at war with one another. His relationships with these and other tribes became critical as colonial unrest exploded into war against British troops along the East Coast. With few British soldiers deployed in the Great Lakes region, DePeyster and other officers realized the need to cultivate strategic alliances with Native American tribes to cooperatively defend against any incursions by the American rebels. Although the fur trade remained the primary focus at Michilimackinac, DePeyster transformed the post into a base for Native American war parties sent east to fight alongside British troops. Warriors equipped and outfitted at Michilimackinac helped recapture Montreal in 1776 and joined General John Burgoyne’s ill-fated expedition to the Hudson Valley in 1777. For these and other accomplishments DePeyster received his promotion to Major. A year later, DePeyster faced a more immediate threat as American forces moved into the Illinois country. During the summer of 1779 DePeyster dispatched a large war party down Lake Michigan to protect Michilimackinac from the rebels.

Despite his tireless efforts to defend the Straits of Mackinac, DePeyster had long desired a transfer, and in October 1779 his wish was granted. Assuming command at Detroit, the Major continued to organize war parties to

Mackinac

About the writer

Michilimackinac was home to many rough and tumble frontiersmen, but it was also home to transplanted merchants and officers from Europe. Their international export of furs allowed them to import back any product made in the world.

Shards of dishware from China are found by archaeologists. Can you image the journey each plate experienced to arrive here safe and sound?

This bowl, which now resides inside Colonial Michilimackinac’s entry, was a gift from the local merchants to DePeyster upon his exit from the region. It was specially ordered and manufactured in London for the occasion. It is sterling silver, very high quality, and contains engravings in both French and English plus the cartouche containing the turtle symbol. The English engraving reads:

State

The DePeyster Bowl

harass the Americans in Kentucky, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Despite the successes of his men and their Native American allies, DePeyster faced the unenviable chore of facilitating the close of the war in the northwest as the Americans claimed victory in 1783. After recalling the war parties and releasing the prisoners of war held at Detroit, DePeyster found himself promoted and transferred once again, this time as a Lieutenant Colonel at Fort Niagara.

Arriving there in 1784, DePeyster assumed command of the entire 8th Regiment. A year later the 8th finally returned to England, having been posted in North America for the past 17 years.

DePeyster and Rebecca remained with the regiment for the next several years, as it was posted to a number of garrisons in and around Great Britain.

Despite a further promotion to Colonel, DePeyster chose to finally leave the Army in 1794. He and Rebecca retired to Scotland soon after, but a French invasionary scare found the Colonel in uniform once more in 1795. Placed in command of a local militia unit, DePeyster spent much of his time training the men. As the threat of invasion faded, DePeyster took to writing poetry, a hobby he had enjoyed during his time in North America. He published a volume of poems, Miscellanies, by an Officer, in 1813. DePeyster and Rebecca enjoyed a quiet retirement until he died, at age 88, in 1822. ▪

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LAKE MITCHIGAN* By the Indians called the “Man Devouring Lake”

by Arent DePeyster ... in his own words The confluence between Lake Mitchigan and Lake Huron is six miles across; and when frozen over, which it does every winter, and continues near four feet thick until the beginning of May, the soldiers and Indians, at the half-way, make holes and let down lines 40 fathoms deep to catch trout, weighing from 20 to 60 lbs. each. To take a view of this manner of fishing, the author, with one serjeant, went, when the fishers had left it in order to dry their lines and nets, at which time a most dreadful storm from the north-west drove the waters of Lake Huron with such violence into the straits that the ice broke up; which, when the garrison of Mitchilimackinack perceived, the cannon were fired to give warning that the ice had separated from the shore. When four Indian chiefs, who knew that the author, whom they called their father, was upon the lake, shoved off their bark canoe, or rather put it into the water, and sometimes carrying it across sheets of ice, and sometimes paddling through the water, succeeded in bringing him ashore. The following poem (if it may be called one) was written as descriptive of the event:

“Hope travels on, nor quits us when we die,” Said Twick’nam’s trueful bard, and so said I. Long ere from this devouring lake, With life escaped, and still awake, To where dread Huron, raging tore The ice-bound straits, from shore to shore; And sent me whirling, in a trice, Upon a crumbling cake of ice, T’were Indian friends, expert and brave, Their lives exposed, my life to save, While threatened with a watery grave.

Uniting courage with their skill, I see their manly efforts still To gain the cake whereon I stood, (Swift drifting o’er the impetuous flood, With woeful yearnings of the mind, For one dear friend I’d left behind;) Till round they veered her prow with pride, And laid her quivering alongside; Where, through the means of Heavenly grace, The parting ice left water space, Through which with force they plied the oar.

To where shouts echoed from the shore, Thence bore me home, with hearts elate, T’have saved me from impending fate; And spurned reward, though sore oppressed With hunger, cold, and want of rest.

▫ Place to Ponder

DePeyster’s office inside Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City is the perfect place to ponder his existence in the Straits of Mackinac. He was the longest serving British officer at the fort. Step out to the water gate and imagine a cold winter day, then imagine walking out to view a fishing hole and realizing you are suddenly adrift.

A bard was a professional poet employed by a patron. The Bard of Twickenham is Alexander Pope, an English poet known for satirical verse and translating Homer. From the money he earned from selling the Iliad and Odyssey he bought an estate in Twickenham, England. He had died in 1844.

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*By Arent DePeyster. His entire book of poems can be read at: http://openlibrary.org/books/OL23347030M/Miscellanies_by_an_officer DePeyster gets the quote wrong, the line is “When hope travels through, nor quits us when we die.” From Pope’s Essay on Man Hope springs eternal in the human breast: "Man never is, but always to be blest. The soul, uneasy and confined from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die." Alexander Pope, Essay on Man

a native sense of place

Michilimackinac/Michilimackinac

Familiar place names as they were known in Anishnaabemowin

Waugoshance Point/ Waugooshens

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Emmet County

he Odawa were our first permanent residents and, in a sense, our first resorters. Although they settled in the area surrounding Harbor Springs in the 1700s, they continued their seasonal migration, heading south during the harsh winter months and returning in the spring to plant their Cross Village/Ahnumawatikomeg crops of corn, beans and squash.

It wasn’t until European settlement in the mid-1870s that the Odawa began to spend more winters in Emmet County. Here in the Land of the Crooked Tree, or Waganakising the Odawa were and are still today Crooked Tree/L'Arbre Croche area strongly bound to the land and water that surrounds us. Many of the names they gave to land forms and areas are still with us today, such as Wequetonsing and Waugoshance. Below are a few Good Hart-Middle Village/Ahpitahwaing of the names given to specific places in the area

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(English spellings of Odawa words often vary): PLACE ODAWA NAME Harbor Point Sing gog Wequetonsing Wababikong Harbor Springs/ Weekwitonsing Little Traverse Five Mile Creek Zebewaing Seven Mile Point Sheembamakong Good Hart/ Middle Village Ahpitahwaing Cross Village Ahnumawatikomeg Crooked Tree/ Waganakising L’Arbre Croche Menonaqua Menonaqua Kegomic Kiogamic Petoskey Betasiga Bear River Mukwazibing Waugoshance Point Waugooshens Bay Shore* Agaming Charlevoix* Zhingwakzibing Beaver Island* Amikgokenda/ Amikminis Garden Island* Ketiganiminis High Island* Nisiwabigong

TRANSLATION Beautiful point White gravel beach Little bay place River basin Water underground In the middle Place of the prayer tree It is bent/crooked tree

Seven Mile Point/ Sheembamakong

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Five Mile Creek/Zebewaing

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Harbor Springs/Weekwitonsing Wequetonsing/Wababikong

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Harbor Point/ Sing gog

Many blueberries/ blueberry plain Fishing village Light coming at you Bear River

● ● ● Menonaqua/ Menonaqua ●Kegomic/ Kiogamic

● ●Petoskey/Betasiga

Bear River/ Mukwazibing

Little fox Across the waterway Pine River Beaver Island * Charlevoix County

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LEADER OF CHANGE Jean Baptiste Assiginack arrives for the Odawa

By Eric Hemenway, LTBB

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he Odawa have a long history of great leadership for their people. Men by the names of Sagima, Kawbenaw, Nissawaquat, the Little King, Naiwash and Charles Langlade are some of the most notable chiefs.

What separated remarkable Odawa chiefs from ordinary ones was their ability to be adept and skillful leaders for their respective communities during difficult times. These situations included making prompt wartime decisions and navigating political alliances, religious fractions, economic situations, negotiations with foreign powers and having the vision to act for future generations of Odawa. One such individual who embodied many of these characteristics for the Odawa was Assiginack.

Assiginack was born along the shores of Waganakising, Land of the Crooked Tree, in 1768.

The Land of Crooked Tree is also known as Emmet County, Michigan. Assiginack came from one of the most influential and powerful Odawa families in the upper Great Lakes. It could be reasonably argued that leadership was in Assiginack’s lineage.

His brothers Apokusgun (Smoking Mixture) and Ninegon (the Wing) both were chiefs of villages of Northern Michigan Odawa. What separated Assiginack from his brothers was that while he was a chief during times of peace, he led warriors on the warpath.

In his youth, Assiginack attended the Sulpician Mission School at Lac-des-Deux Montagnes (Oka, Quebec). While attending the mission school, he became fluent in French and took the name Jean Baptise. In addition to changing his name, he converted to the Catholic faith and was baptized.

Attending a Catholic school at such a distance was not typical for Michigan Odawa at this time; neither was adopting a Christian name. Christianity had yet to be widely adopted by the Odawa during the 18th century. These early, Catholic influences on the Odawa leader would play a major role in his future leadership of the tribe.

During Assiginack’s lifetime, he witnessed the transformation of the Odawa way of life on a rapid and immense scale. The withdrawal of the French

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Original artwork by Jane Cardinal courtesy of Harbor Springs Area Historical Society About the artist: Jane Cardinal is a native Michigander and MSU graduate. Good Hart summers were the delight of her childhood where snippets of its lore always intrigued her. She recently co-authored “The Place Where the Crooked Tree Stood,” a book on the history of Good Hart and Middle Village. Jane and her husband, Bob, live year round in Good Hart.

regime from the Great Lakes, subsequent British occupation of Odawa homelands and the eventual expansion of American dominance into the Great Lakes all happened during Assiginack’s years. He would watch as one Anglo power after another vied for control of his tribe’s homelands.

Assiginack took decisive actions to protect these homelands during the War of 1812, largely due to the strong bonds that the Odawa chief felt existed between the Odawa and the Great Lakes themselves. That connection to their ancestral home stems from ancient beliefs that were passed down generation to generation.

Assiginack asserted that the Odawa originated from within the Great Lakes, from Manitoulin Island, since time immemorial.

What made Assiginack so unique was his ability to blend both Western and Anishnaabek beliefs. He also had the vision to see the need for adopting some Western ideas in order for the Odawa to survive into the future. But before Assiginack would become a great mediator, he would first become a great warrior.

About the writer

Eric Hemenway is an Anishnaabe/Odawa from Cross Village, Mich. He is the Director of Repatriation, Archives and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. Eric has worked on multiple exhibits regarding Odawa history, repatriation claims to have ancestral human remains returned and educational outreach with local schools and historic groups.

Assiginack and his warriors followed a long lineage of Odawa warriors who fought against a multitude of forces, spanning hundreds of years to protect their Great Lakes homelands and interests. Such outside forces included the Muschodesh, Fox, Iroquois, Winnebago, Chickasaw, British and Americans. (Only once in 700 years were the Odawa displaced from Michigan. This was during the war with the Iroquois 1640-1701.)

The Odawa were no strangers to war but they were always cautious about engaging in it. During his efforts to gather support to fight the Americans during the War of 1812, Assiginack once gave a speech from sunrise to sunset at Mackinac. His eloquent and thoughtful rhetoric persuaded many warriors to follow him. Any tribal warrior had the freedom to fight for whomever they saw fit, no matter what tribe they claimed or what area they hailed from. And there were many powerful, influential war chiefs from which to choose in the Great Lakes during the War of 1812: The great Shawnee Tecumseh; the brutal Potawatomi Main Poc; the honorable Wyandot Roundhead; and Tecumseh’s second in command, the Odawa Naiwash. Those who chose to follow Assiginack’s war party came from Northern Michigan at Waganakising.

Assiginack (which means Red-Winged Blackbird) was the most influential Odawa war chief from Little Traverse during the War of 1812. Assiginack’s war party included Mookmanish (Little Bad Knife), Kishigopenasi (Day Bird), Makadepenasi (Blackbird), Eshquagonabe (Looking Back) and Clap of Thunder at Night. The war party continued on next page

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Assiginack: Odawa leader hoped for peace among all continued from page 27

traveled by canoe to fight American soldiers throughout the Great Lakes, including the Niagara theatre at the battle of the Beaver Dam June 21, 1813 and the Praire du Chien battle July 20, 1814. Assiginack and his war party were successful in all the wars they fought, but family deference kept Assiginack and the Waganakising warriors from participating in the battles that took place on Mackinac Island in 1812 and 1814. Assiginack’s brother, Ninegon (the wing) was pro-American and his band resided on the island.

Despite the fact Assiginack's war party won all their battles, they sided with the losing side in the War of 1812 (which ended in 1815): the British. The death of Tecumseh in 1813 spelled the end of the joint Indian resistance to the Americans as well. No other leaders had the skills and drive to bring so many tribes together for a common cause.

Assiginack’s leadership was not on the scale of Tecumseh, but at home it was impressive nonetheless. He was known for always advocating for the overall well-being of the Odawa whether in war or in peace. For example, on one occasion Assigianck got word a ship in the harbor had a large amount of rum. The Odawa chief and his brother Apoksugn were strongly against alcohol and decided to take action. Assiginack and his warriors boarded the ship and dumped all the rum into the lake. Another time, Apoksugun had a stash of liquor brought to the center of Harbor Springs, where he had the warriors dump the entire contents into the ground. Both displays were a strong message; the Odawa saw alcohol as detrimental to their villages and it was not welcomed.

Assiginack and Apoksugun were the strongest proponents of bringing Catholic missionaries to Waganakising after the war. Their efforts were stifled by traditional Odawa who did not want a Christian presence in their villages. The tension became so great at Waganakising that the visiting priest, Father Badin, advised Assiginack and other proCatholic Odawa to remove themselves and start their own village. They did in 1829 and created Weekwitonsing (Small Bay Place), otherwise known as Harbor Springs.

Family bonds eventually overcame religious differences and the community of Odawa at Waganakising reconciled. But even with the newly formed village, the climate was not suitable for Assiginack.

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He made a drastic decision in 1836 to relocate from Michigan entirely, returning to the original Odawa homelands on Manitoulin Island, on the Canadian side of northern Lake Huron. Other Odawa chiefs, such as Mookmanish and later Chingmasso from near Burt Lake, followed.

Assiginack and the others took approximately 300 Odawa from Northern Michigan with them in 1836. Once at Manitoulin Island, Assiginack created Wikwemikong on the eastern shore. Here, the now older Assiginack used his ability to work with Odawa and non-Odawa factions in the hopes of creating a settlement where the Odawa could retain their lands so agriculture could flourish.

In 1862, Assiginack signed a treaty, as a representative of the Odawa on Manitoulin Island, between the British crown and the Odawa. It affected two major issues facing the tribe: fishing and land rights. However, one of his sons and a number of Odawa and Ojibway opposed the agreement with the British. This would once again bring division between the Odawa and Ojibway on the island, creating tension and even prompting violence - crushing Assiginack's dreams for peace among the tribes here as well.

Assiginack and his brother continued to see that living with, and not against, Anglo powers was the best means of surviving in their homeland. It was a mission he carried to his grave. Assiginack died in 1866 on Manitoulin Island and was buried among his Catholic followers at Wekwemikong. Although part of his legacy is tarnished with controversy, the fact remains that he devoted his life to improving his people's standing and made substantial gains to retain their rights. ▪

A FERVID CURIOSITY

for the natural world Thomas Nuttall was the Straits' first botanist

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By Sandra L. Planisek

botanist visited our pristine beaches in 1810 and described the marvelous beach plants, common and rare, for posterity. He went on to provide the same service for much of America and in 1841 he returned to his native England. In leaving America he penned this passage,

Thomas Nuttall

1810 English botanist Who he was: As the first botanist at the Straits of Mackinac, he identified many of our endangered plants

▫ Place to Ponder

Walk any beach in Northern Michigan and you will see these very special plants that are now considered threatened and endangered. They only survive among the limestone rocks in the strange, damp, climate near the water. The Headlands is the perfect place to bring a picnic, walk the beach and linger until after dark to enjoy the International Dark Sky Park. Directions, details: www.emmetcounty.org/darkskypark/

“Thirty-four years ago, I left England to explore the natural history of the United States. In the ship Halcyon I arrived at the shores of the New World; and after a boisterous and dangerous passage, our dismasted vessel entered the Capes of the Delaware in the month of April. The beautiful robing of forest scenery, now bursting into vernal life, was exchanged for the monotony of the dreary ocean, and sad sickness of the sea. As we sailed up the Delaware my eyes were riveted on the landscape with intense admiration. All was new! – and life, like that season, was then full of hope and enthusiasm. The forest apparently unbroken, in their primeval solitude and repose spread themselves on either side as we passed placidly along. The extending vista of dark Pines gave an air of deep sadness to the wilderness . . .

Scenes like these have little attraction for ordinary life.

But to the naturalist it is far otherwise; privations to him, are cheaply purchased if he may roam over the wild domain of primeval nature...

How often have I realized the poet’s buoyant hopes amid these solitary rambles through interminable forest!

For thousands of miles my chief converse has been in the wilderness with the spontaneous productions of nature; and the study of these objects and their contemplation has been to me a source of constant delight.

The fervid curiosity led me to the bank of the Ohio, through the dark forests and brakes of the Mississippi, to the distant lake of the northern frontier..."

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Thomas Nuttall

Ambitious botanist

As the field surveyor for University of Philadelphia’s Professor Benjamin Barton and earning $8 a month he worked his way across the country.

“It (America) was a good land for an ambitious botanist for there was much to be done and very few who were interested and qualified to do it.”

At five o’clock in the morning on Thursday, April 12, 1810, Nuttall boarded a stagecoach in Philadelphia bound for Pittsburg. In his trunk he was carrying a double-barreled gun, a pistol, a dirk, five blank writing books, a steel pen, a thermometer, a reference book, gunpowder, a powderhorn, a shot belt, a pair of scales, and paper for pressing plant specimens.

He and his trunk were planning to travel from Pittsburg into Lake Erie and then across Michigan to Wisconsin and the Mississippi, finally looping back to Philadelphia by way of Tennessee. He obviously had no idea of the conditions facing him. He soon left his trunk with a new owner and ultimately used his double-barreled gun as a surrogate shovel. He was tough, determined, and inventive enough to achieve his goal of learning the plants, animals and habitats of his adopted country.

Platanthera huronensis

He arrived in Detroit on June 26th after he had walked 400 miles of his journey. But at Detroit he connected with the water transport system that had served history so well. In Detroit he met Aaron Greeley, the American surveyor charged with settling land claims in the Straits of Mackinac. Nuttall arranged passage in Greeley’s convoy of canoes and arrived in Michilimackinac two weeks later on August 12th. He spent a few days on Mackinac Island where he discovered Rubus parviflorus or thimbleberry. He then set off for the next leg of his trip to Green Bay, a trip that normally took 7 to 10 days with an experienced canoe party.

He arrived at Green Bay on August 26th. Nuttall’s diary was neglected between Detroit and Green Bay so we can only speculate on whether he actually set foot in Emmet County, but he certainly walked the beaches of the Straits of Mackinac, long before the counties were established. The plants we now find on our beaches that were first described by Nuttall are: Iris lacustris; Tanacetum bipinnatum subsp. huronense; Platanthera huronensis and Carex aurea.

Identifying Northern Michigan's distinct species “Nuttall mentioned about 60 species as specifically occurring around the Great Lakes, at least a third of them described as new to science ... Chief among these were three species described as new to science from the vicinity of Michilimackinac: Iris lacustris, a dwarf species named for the lakes and endemic to the shores of northern Lakes Michigan and Huron; Tanacetum huronense, a large-headed tansy named for Lake Huron but in addition to the sandy shores of the northern Great Lakes ... and Rubus parviflorus, a misnomer regarding flower size, the tasty thimbleberry in fruit, occurring in the northern Great Lakes region.” * Nuttall also noted other common beach plants such as beach pea, sea rocket, and birdseye primrose from the “calcareous gravelly shores of the islands of Lake Huron; around Michilimakinak, Bois Blanc, and St. Helena, in the outlet of Lake Michigan,” tall northern green orchid, white camas, fringed polygala, and twinflower.

Thimbleberry

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Thomas Nuttall deserves credit as being the first botanist to have seen and recognized in his published work many of the most distinctive plants of our northern forests and shores.” * Botanical Beachcombers and Explorers, University of Michigan Herbarium. Edward G. Voss, 1978, p5.

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McGulpin Point Lighthouse today. This parcel was the first deeded piece of land in Emmet County and one of the first in Michigan.

Aaron Greeley

1810 American surveyor Why he's important: He resolved the first land claims in the Straits of Mackinac, including Emmet County's 1st deeded parcel

FIRST SURVEYOR Aaron Greeley, sorter of early land claims

By Sandra L. Planisek

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hen the French moved into the Straits of Mackinac they were initially as lax about land ownership as their Indian predecessors. What did it matter who owned what? It was a vast wilderness. However as soldiers slipped into the role of private entrepreneurs they wanted ownership to protect their investments. In response much of downtown St. Ignace was deeded to French settlers.

After the English defeated the French and took control of the Straits area they too parceled out a few deeds of land, including McGulpin Point.

Lastly when the Americans took control of the area they wanted all of the earlier settlers to remain to keep the area economically viable. To keep all of the residents on their land, the Americans acknowledged as legitimate all prior property deeds, whether French or English.

Unfortunately these early deeds were imprecise.

Compass used by Greeley while in New Hampshire

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Aaron Greeley

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▫ Place to Ponder

Potential new settlers were clamoring for the new American government Visit McGulpin Point Historic Site to allocate title to lands too. But before the U. S. government was willing to and Lighthouse by taking grant new deeds it felt an imperative to make certain it recorded properly all of Mackinaw City’s Central Ave the former deeds, thus avoiding unnecessary future title disputes. In the early west. The McGulpin land patent 1800s, before the War of 1812, Aaron Greeley was sent to Northern Michigan started at the west end of today’s to sort out French claims and English claims and to survey these claims using cemetery and contained all of the Public Land Survey System. the land north of Central Ave. French claims, as seen in St. Ignace, were long, narrow parcels radiating from and west of this corner. Sit under a body of water. Each parcel had access to the water highway and the owner’s the gazebo on the waterfront at lands stretched back and away. British claims, such as McGulpin Point, were the lighthouse and marvel at the more rectangular.

Aaron Greeley was born in 1773 in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. He must view of the Straits that Patrick have been educated because he started his adult life as a school teacher. He McGulpin's father and grandchilventured to Canada with a cousin where he met and married Margaret Rogers dren enjoyed. in 1803.

In 1805, at age 33, he learned surveying by working with Enoch Long as they together surveyed his home town in New Hampshire. At the time this was a good trade because land was being platted and deeded across the country. There was plenty of work. He and Margaret apparently visited Margaret’s family regularly.

In 1806 they had a daughter, born in Canada. You may have noticed that Margaret’s surname was Rogers. Her uncle was the famous, or infamous, Robert Rogers of Rogers’ Rangers fame. When Margaret was young he certainly visited her family home and, among all of the adventures of his life, he must have mentioned Detroit where he served during Pontiac’s War and then Michilimackinac where he was commandant from 1766-1767.

So when Congress in 1806 created a Board of Land Commissioners to adjust established claims, Aaron Greeley undoubtedly saw a job opportunity and perhaps he chose to move his family to Detroit influenced in part by family lore. He got the job and as an experienced surveyor, was appointed in 1808 to map parts of Michigan. He came to work in the Straits of Mackinac in 1810, the trip where he gave Nuttall a ride. Officially he was the Michigan field surveyor, working for Captain Jared Mansfield, USA for the Northwest Territory. Greeley worked independently and hired his own crew. He preferred working with Indians and thus hired mostly Indians as his field assistants.

He arrived in the Straits on August 12th, proceeded quickly to his tasks and left on August 28th. He surveyed St. Ignace, Mackinac Island and a few plots in Mackinaw City. Much of the work involved hearings where townsmen testified to land owners’ property use and descriptions, people testifying back and forth in each other’s behalf. From these hearings the complex allotment of land on Mackinac Island was clarified and recorded. There was so little interest in land in the Mackinaw City area that only three allotments were made and none contested. In that happy whirlwind trip he affirmed Patrick McGulpin’s claim to 640 acres on the west side of today’s Mackinaw City. This became the first land deed in Emmet County and fittingly a portion of it is now owned by the county as McGulpin Point Historic Site.

Milo Quaife reported about Aaron Greeley, “In the summer of 1810, he journeyed to Mackinac, where he surveyed the town lots and other land holding of the villagers. For many years this visitation was carried in memory by the people of Mackinac.” ▪

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he Who Paws

By Eric Hemenway, LTBB

Through Shab-eh-nay: A hero to the Odawa people

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Shab-eh-nay

Odawa warrior and chief was a relation of Andrew J. Blackbird and was a hero to the Odawa during the War of 1812.

he Odawa had many heroes fighting for their rights in the War of 1812. Most of these warriors hailed from the northern shores of Lake Michigan, at the village site known as Waganakising “Land of the Crooked Tree.” Today, this area is known as Emmet County. Men by the names of Assiginack, Mookmanish (Little Bad Knife), Kishigopenasai (Day Bird), Makadepenasai (Black Bird) and Crawfish were some of these Odawa warriors from Northern Michigan. But another Odawa, with family ties to Northern Michigan, also displayed extraordinary heroics during, and after, the War of 1812. This Odawa warrior and chief was Shab-eh-nay (He Who Paws Through).

Shab-eh-nay was born around 1775, at an unknown location along the Kaskaskia River. Shab-eh-nay lived the vast majority of his life among the Potawatomi of Illinois. He eventually would succeed his wife’s father, Spotka, as the chief of this Potawatomi village. The fact a non-Potawatomi was chosen to lead a Potawatomi village gives testament to the leadership skills this man demonstrated during his lifetime. Shab-eh-nay is connected to Emmet County through his nephew, Andrew J. Blackbird. Andrew J. Blackbird’s father Makadepenasai fought in the War of 1812, but it is likely the two warriors never fought in the same battles. Andrew J. Blackbird claims Shab-eh-nay as his uncle through his mother’s side of the family. It goes without saying the famous Odawa historian Andrew J. Blackbird has quite the family lineage.

Shab-eh-nay’s homelands in Illinois became battlegrounds between 1790-1832, as tribes such as the Kickapoo, Sauk, Fox, Potawatomi joined forces with northern Great Lakes tribes to resist American expansion into the western Great Lakes. By 1790, tribes from the east were being displaced by American settlers moving west. To end further displacement, as well as keep valuable resources and access to lands deemed sacred, tribes fought the Americans in battle. Shab-eh-nay, like the vast majority of Great Lakes warriors, chose to fight for his tribe and village’s interest. People who knew the chief personally noted continued on next page

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Shab-eh-nay: A hero to the Odawa people continued from page 33

his kind and caring nature, as well as being a warrior. He was always hospitable and thought of others before himself.

But when the time to take action called, Shab-eh-nay was not meek nor faint of heart. He would fight the Americans until the very end of the War of 1812 and partake in some of the most critical battles in the war.

Shab-eh-nay was counted as one of Tecumseh’s staunchest allies and trusted friend. The famed Shawnee chief and Shab-eh-nay would travel across the Midwest, recruiting warriors to take up the cause against American expansion. Broken treaties, loss of lands, violence against tribal civilians and the rapid erosion of indigenous lifestyles were important factors for both of these men risking their lives and committing so much time and energy to the cause of a pan-Indian alliance. Having so many different tribes and communities fight under the same banner was nothing new to Great Lakes warriors. The Odawa chief Pontiac would do the same and was successful for a short time in 1763 against the British. The Shawnee war chief Blue Jacket and Miami chief Little Turtle did this again in 1790 against the Americans. Tecumseh kept this spirit of resistance alive and expanded it in 1812.

Tecumseh’s eloquent and powerful speeches moved the Odawa warrior. But his actions as a warrior

were probably what impressed Shab-eh-nay more because like Tecumseh, Shab-eh-nay was also a man of action. He would fight alongside Tecumseh and hundreds of Great Lakes warriors in the siege and taking of Fort Detroit in 1812 and again in 1813. On the fateful day of October 5, 1813, when Tecumseh was killed in battle of the Thames River, Ontario, Shab-eh-nay was at his side. After the battle, as the American soldiers came to look for Tecumseh’s body, probably to desecrate it, they found it gone. Tecumseh’s warriors, the ones who were with him at his end, took it and hid it. To this day, the location of Tecumseh’s burial is unknown.

The War of 1812 is marred by horrific acts of violence, committed by both American and tribal fighters. One of the most infamous incidents occurred at Fort Dearborn, or Chicago, on August 15, 1812. The fort’s soldiers and its civilian inhabitants agreed to surrender to besieging tribal forces, which were predominately Potawatomi. The warriors, who numbered approximately 600, were at first undecided on how to deal with the American settlers.

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When news of Detroit being taken by British and Indian forces arrived, the undecided war party became increasingly hostile. The tipping point was the arrival of Potawatomi war chiefs Mad Sturgeon and Blackbird (not the Odawa chief), who both had a propensity of viciousness and violence.

Fort Dearborn commander Nathan Heald, whom hesitated on evacuating the fort, would pay dearly for his delayed decision. Upon their departure from the fort, the convoy of soldiers and civilians were overtaken by Mad Sturgeon and the other warriors. Agreements were made to ransom the captives and allow for a safe departure. But the agreement would not be honored. The entire American convoy was attacked, resulting in 64 of 96 Americans being killed, as well as Indian Agent William Wells. After most of the killing took place, Shab-eh-nay arrived.

A small number of women and children managed to make their way to a cabin owned by a local trader named John Kinzie. Shab-eh-nay, upon arriving, found his way to the cabin. Soon after, vengeful Potawatomi warriors tried to force their way into the cabin and take the captives.

Shab-eh-nay, Ka-be-naw (The Bringer) and a few others barred the warriors from entering, putting their own lives at risk. A heated exchange transpired. Luckily for the American settlers, chief Sauganash, another prominent Potawatomi chief from northern Illinois, arrived. He, with Shab-eh-nay, both agreed that no more civilians were to be executed. Their decisions saved over a dozen lives, mostly women and children. The survivors were later transported to safety. Shab-eh-nay, like his friend Tecumseh, despised the killing of women and children.

Shab-eh-nay’s heroic efforts would not be reserved for the War of 1812. Once the War of 1812 concluded and American expansion went further west, tribes continued to resist this expansion. One such tribe was the Sauk.

The militant Sauk war chief, Black Hawk, would take continued on next page

Tecumseh was an ally of Shab-eh-nay.

In their OWN words

Which is proper, Indian, Native American ... or neither?

N

o other population in the United States has more scrutiny around its identity than the indigenous peoples to North America. “Native American” and “Indian” are two widely used terms, but in actuality, both are incorrect. “Indian” is a misnomer that is 500 years old, that stems from early European explorers looking to find trade routes to the east.

Upon “discovering” North America, men like Christopher Columbus named all people he encountered “Indians” because he was looking for India. The term has been so ingrained in politics, social use and Written by Eric Hemenway, even legal jargon, that it has Little Traverse Bay Bands become synonymous with of Odawa Indians member, indigenous peoples throughdressed here as Charles Langlade for a local exhibit on out the western hemisphere, the French and Indian War. from Argentina to Alaska.

Many tribes today call themselves Indians.

“Native American” has been adopted in the last two decades in the United States, as a more politically correct term. But, this name too has its flaws. Saying the people are “Native” is correct, but labeling the lands as “America” is not all accurate.

The lands of North America had distinct, tribal designation before the arrival of Europeans. The indigenous peoples were indeed native to these lands but areas which they lived on had different names, all of which depended on the tribe that called that area home. Calling these lands as “America” denies the tribes’ previous claims to these lands. Many indigenous people in the United States prefer to be called by their tribal name. This, too, can be confusing, as tribes sometimes go by different names and belong to a larger group. For example, the Odawa (or Ottawa) are indigenous to the Great Lakes. Many Odawa feel they belong to a larger group, the Anishnaabek. The Anishnaabek is comprised of the Odawa, Ojibway and Potawatomi. Not all Odawa feel this way, or even call themselves Odawa; some prefer Ottawa.

It comes down to personal identification in the case of tribes in the United States and how the tribes, and their populations, identify themselves. ▪

Shab-eh-nay: Proponent of peace, advocate for co-existence the fight to the Americans in 1832. Black Hawk led hundreds of Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo warriors against the Americans during the War of 1812; he was no stranger to battle. In 1832, facing loss of lands, relocation and dwindling resources, Sauk war parties would strike out against American settlers in what is now northern Illinois. Black Hawk, before the raids began, tried to recruit Shab-eh-nay to fight on behalf of his warriors. But the old Odawa chief refused to use his influence to raise warriors. Shab-eh-nay was a proponent of peace by this time and advocated for co-existence with the Americans. Black Hawk, upon being refused, was furious. His anger would show itself later.

Shab-eh-nay would not only refuse Black Hawk’s offer to go on the war path, he would take extra efforts to save American lives, again. Shab-eh-nay, his son and nephew would ride to various American settlements in Kolb County, Illinois, warning the settlers of advancing Sauk warriors. The ones who heeded Shab-eh-nay and his party’s warnings lived; the ones who disregarded it perished at the hands of Sauk warriors. Again, over a dozen women and children were

saved by Shab-eh-nay’s actions.

The Odawa warrior rode so hard for two days straight that he killed his horse and had to borrow one to complete his mission of warning civilians. This was an extraordinary example of valor during desperate times, but the end result would not be beneficial to the Odawa chief.

Despite saving American lives on numerous occasions, Shab-eh-nay and his band would be forced off their lands in Illinois to reservations in Kansas in the 1840s. As fate would have it, the tribe that would be his neighbor in Kansas would be the Sauk. The animosity towards Shab-eh-nay did not subside for the Sauks. Vengeful Sauk warriors killed Shab-ehnay’s son and nephew. The reward for Shab-eh-nay’s humane actions would be the loss of his family and the loss of his band’s lands. Despite all the tragedy the Odawa faced in his life, all who knew him, both American and Indian alike, commented on his good nature, honesty and prudent leadership. Eventually, Shab-eh-nay and his family would make their way back to Illinois. He would fight for his tribe’s rights, resources and land until his death in 1859. ▪

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Essence of Emmet part 1 of 4

Additional editions:

▪ Wars 1812-1917 ▪ The 20th Century 1918-1960 ▪ Modern times 1961-present By the history organizations of Emmet County, for the residents of Emmet County. www.emmetcounty.org