YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 05350 4669 ^^ooooooooeee^^ fj^^^^^^^^^®®m^OQ®Q@&&oe®Q&eee@QQ& MICHIGAN -? HI a..in"fli| ill. J'i j. !iT^.ii^.»»!gTii)ir felly JJRATJONS] *\s T °* y -OF- BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN, ^<£=WITH«5-J llluslratkns anil ^tographical sketched ^>OF^J SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS. PHILADELPHIA: BYEHTS &o ABBOTT. -1879. ^TSX. vjj /V'X/ VS" ^k.^-'-/ vs° PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIA. CONTENTS. HISTOBIOAL. HISTOKT 01 BEANCH COUNTY. PAGE CHAPTER XXV.- —Branch County Since the War .... 9S I. — Introductory ..... XXVI.- —The Press of Branch County . 99 9 XXVII.- —The State Public School . 103 II. — Early French Discoveries III. — The Pottawattamies 1012 XXVIII.- XXIX.- —County Societies — Branch County Civil List 107109 IV. — The Pottawattamies, continued 16 V. — The Pottawattamies, continued 26 ClTY OF COLDWATEB . 113 VI.— The Treaty-Making Period . 32 VII. — The Situation at Settlement 35 HISTORV OB'- Tilli TOWNS AND VIIiliAGES OF VIII. — From Settlement to Organization of County 39 BRANCH COUNTY. IX. — From Organization to 1840 48 Township of Coldwater 165 X.— From 1841 to 1861 57 " Quincy 174 XI.— First Infantry . 59 " Union 19S XII. — Seventh Infantry 61 tt Bronson . 216 XIII.— Ninth Infantry 63 a Girard . 230 XIV.— Eleventh Infantry .... 66 tt Algansee 239 XV. — Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Infantry . 71 it Gilead . 249 73 it Batavia . 265 XVII. — Twenty-Eighth Infantry and First Sharpshooters 77 " Bethel . 27S XVIII.— Fourth and Fifth Cavalry 79 it Kinderhook 291 XIX. — Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Cavalry 82 (( Butler . 300 XX. — Battery A, First Light Artillery 85 " Ovid 309 XXI.— Battery D. 90 u Matteson 315 XXII.— Battery F. 91 it Noble . 324 XXIII.— Battery G. 94 " Sherwood 330 XXIV.— Other Branch County Soldiers . 96 it California 339 ILLTJSTBATIONS. State Public School for Map of Branch County Dependent Children (Frontispiece) facing title-page. facing Portraits of A. Brown and Wife " B. F. Wheat and Wife . " Peter M. Newberry and Wife . " John S. Belote and Wife facing PAGE 193 193 195197 COLDWATEB (CITY). UNION. Art Gallerj' and Residence of H. C. Lewis . . facing Fac-simile ofthe Record ofthe First Village Election, 1837 " Portrait of Alonzo Waterman . . . facing St. Mark's Episcopal Church . . " Portraits of Thos. Daugherty and Wife 113115 119124129 Portrait of Charles A. Lincoln .... Residence of Ezra Bostwick (with portraits) Portrait of Dr. H. F. Ewers Portrait of Thomas B. Buell facing 200208214215 Residence of H. C. Fenn ... tt 144 BRONSON. " A. C. Fisk (with portrait) . between 150 151 Portrait of John II. Beech, M.D. 156 Residence of Jonathan Holmes (with portraits) facing 222 " W. B. Sprague, M.D. 157 Portrait of Darius Monroe tt 226 Portraits of L. D. Crippen and Wife . facing 159 " Wales Adams . 229 " Harvey Haynes and Wife " 159 GIRARD. " Harvey Warner and Wife 160 " Andrew S. Parrish and Wife facing 161 Residence of Peter I. Mann between 232 233 " Asa Parrish and Wife " 161 Portraits of Polly Mann and P. I. Mann and Wife " 232 233 Portrait of James M. Long, M.D. 161 Portrait of Dr. M. E. Chauncey facing 238 " L. D. Halsted .... 162 " Mrs. Eliza Craig n 238 Portraits of Luke H. Whitcomb and Wife 163 Portraits of Henry Pierce and Wife . tt 23S " Wm. S. Gilbert and Wife 164 Portrait of John Allen 164 ALGANSEE. Residence of the late Asahel Brown . facing 240 COLDWATER (TOWNSHIP). " John Joseph .... tt 242 Residence of Wm. P. Norton . . . facing 165 F. T. Gallup . Portraits of David Tift and Wife it 242 245 Portrait of James R. Wilcox . . . 172 " E. S. E. Brainerd and Wife . „ 245 Portraits of John Roberts and Wife 173 " William Kraiser and Wife " A. Shumway and Wife . " 245240 QUINCY. " Samuel B. Hanchett and Wife tt 240 Residence of Lucas Joseph (with portraits) facing 174 " Andrew Crater and Wife " 246 " the late Enos G. Berry (with portraits) t 176 " F. D. Ransom and Wife 247 " J. R. Morey (with portraits) t 178 " Asahel Brown and Wife . 24S " Horace P. Jeffrey ' ISO " C. N. Wilcox .... t 182 GILEAD. Donovan and Conly's Block • 184 Residence of the late Samuel Arnold . between 25( ,251 Portraits of Ansel Nichols and Wife . t 189 Portraits of Samuel Arnold and Wife " 250 , 251 " Wm. P. Arnold "... ' 189 " Daniel Marsh and Wife . facing 253 Residence of D. H. Smith (with portraits) " 190 Residence of E. C. S. Green " 256 191 " Hon. C. G. Luce . t< 258 Portraits of Joseph S. Swan and Wife 192 Portraits of Joseph Keeslar and Wife 201 PTLINE OF RANCH C Oi UITY M ICHIGAN Engraved Expressly For This Work -*+?#?+* HISTORY OP BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN. BY CRISFIELD JOHNSON. CHAPTER I. INTBODTTOTOKT. Plan of the Work — A Consecutive History — Supplementary Chapters — City and Township Histories — The Illustrations — Future Value of Local Histories — The Pottawattamies — The Books Consulted — Acknowledgments to Individuals — The Work Submitted. The plan of this history of Branch County comprises in the first place a connected, consecutive statement of all the facts of general interest relating to the territory now com prising that county, from the earliest accounts down to the present time, embracing a short description of its natural characteristics, and a pretty full record of the principal events occurring within its limits, or in which its. residents have been actors. This portion of the work adheres very closely to the chronological order, and includes the history of the Pottawattamie Indians, — the old-time occupants and lords of the Saint Joseph Valley, — an account of the treaties by which that valley was transferred to the whites, an out line sketch of the first settlement of the county, a record of some of the more prominent features of its development, and the ever interesting story of the achievements of the gallant sons of Branch County in the war for the Union. This consecutive account is supplemented by several chap ters, the subjects of which cannot well be incorporated in that account ; such as sketches of the various county so cieties, a list of the principal officers, a history ofthe State school, etc., etc. The whole, thus far, covers near a hun dred of the first pages of the volume, and constitutes the general history of the county. The later and larger portion of the work embraces sepa rate histories of the city of Coldwater, and of each of the sixteen townships of the county, going with considerabfe detail into the facts of their early settlement, showing the hardships and vicissitudes of pioneer life as narrated by the pioneers themselves, and giving lists of the township officers, together with separate sketches of all the churches, lodges, and other local organizations. Intermingled with these are to be found numerous por traits of prominent citizens of the county, accompanied by their biographies, together with occasional views of their residences. Whatever may be said by the critically dis posed regarding the literary execution of the work, the 2 writer can confidently recommend the productions of the artists and engravers as being of a decidedly high order of merit. They have reproduced the faces of the past genera tions, and both the homes and features of to-day, so accurately that even after the lapse of a century there need be no difficulty in knowing precisely what was the condition of Branch County in 1879. And, although there may be those who are disposed to smile at the idea of a mere county history, in which the features of plain farmers and mechanics appear side by side with some of the most distinguished citizens of the State, yet it is safe to predict that in fifty years few books will be more sought after than these local records of to-day, with their delineations of pioneer life and their thoroughly dem ocratic illustrations of all classes of the community. And this simply for the facts depicted by pencil and pen, and despite of any barrenness of style or awkwardness of ar rangement of which the author may be guilty. Such a record will be scarcely less valuable than would now be a similar account of actual life in the Revolutionary era, with portraits, not merely of a few generals and statesmen, but of the people of that day, who long since went down to their graves unhoriored, unrecorded, and unsung. The early history of this county (that is, its history pre vious to its settlement) is mostly confined to the story of the Pottawattamies. Three chapters have been prepared on this subject with considerable care, and have been in serted in the histories of both Branch and Hillsdale Coun ties, as that tribe was for over a century the masters and occupants of the whole valley of the St. Joseph. Since the settlement by the whites, the story of Branch County runs in an entirely separate channel. To obtain the information thus embodied in the earlier and some of the later, portions of the work it has been necessary to consult numerous books having relation to the subjects under consideration. Among the principal of these we are indebted to Parkman's Conspiracy of Pontiac, Parkman's Discovery of the Great West, Smith's Life and Times of Lewis Cass, Drake's Life of Tecumseh, Drake's Book of the Indians, Schoolcraft's Report on the Indians, Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812, Lanman's Red Book of Michigan, the published Indian Treaties of the United States, the Territorial and Session Laws of Michi- 10 HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN. gan, the Reports of Adjutant-General Robertson from 1861 to 1866, the Reports of the Superintendent of Public In struction, and Pierce's History of St. Joseph County, besides several minor works. The greater part of the pioneer record of the county is embodied in the sketches of Coldwater city and the various townships, yet in obtaining matter for a general outline of that period we received much assistance from those veteran pioneers, Messrs. Wales Adams, Allen Tibbitts, Harvey Warner, and James B. Tompkins. Messrs. E. G. Fuller, Harvey Haynes, and Roland Root supplied us with many facts regarding a somewhat later period ; Mr. Root's infor mation being especially full in relation to the Indians from 1836 down to the time of their removal. Our acknowledgments are also due to Adjutant-General Robertson and his efficient clerk Mr. Humphrey for aid af forded us in obtaining the records of the officers and soldiers of Branch County in the war for the Union, to Mrs. Tenny, the librarian of the State library, for the courtesy with which the ample resources of that institution were placed at our disposal, and to the press of Branch County for access to their files and many other favors. Some others, who have been consulted on particular points, will be mentioned as those points are discussed. Those who have furnished material to the writers on the city and town ships may be numbered by the hundred, and it would be impracticable to include them here. Many of them will be mentioned in the city and township histories, and to all we return the thanks of the publishers and writers. And now we submit our work to the people of Branch County. We trust they will be pleased with it in spite of some imperfections, which keen eyes will doubtless find in its pages, and that not only they but their children and their children's children will occasionally turn thither from more exciting tales and more eloquent periods to learn the humble but honorable story of their home. CHAPTER II. EAELT FRENCH DISCOVERIES. Arrival of the French on the Upper Lakes — Champlain in 1615 — The Franciscan Priests — The Jesuits — Hunters and Traders — Raymbault and Jogues in 1641 — The Wyandots and Ottawas — Father Mar quette — The Lake Country formally taken Possession of for the King of France — Marquette Discovers the Mississippi— Discovers and Explores the St. Joseph — La Salle and the " Griflin" — A Fort on the St. Joseph — Loss of the " Griffin" — La Salle's Subsequent Career and Murder — French Dominion — Influence of Fort St. Joseph — Founding of Detroit — The Pottawattamies. Though the French were unquestionably the first ex plorers of the shores of all the great lakes of North America, yet it is somewhat doubtful at what precise time they first reached the peninsula of Michigan. As early as 1615, Samuel de Champlain, then governor of the infant province of Canada, which he had founded, visited the Huron tribes on the shores of Lake Manitouline. Almost or quite as early, priests of the " Recollet" or Franciscan order estab lished Catholic missions in the same locality, and it is not improbable that some of them visited the shores of the great peninsula a little farther westward; for all, whether friends or foes, admit the extraordinary zeal and unflinching courage ofthe Catholic missionaries in their efforts to make proselytes among the savages of North America. In 1625, however, there arrived on the banks of the St. Lawrence the vanguard of a black -gowned host, to be sent to America by a still more vigorous, zealous, and highly-disciplined order, — the far-famed Jesuits. These fiery champions of the cross were destined to crowd aside the more peaceful or more inert Franciscans throughout the whole lake region, and substantially appropriate that missionary ground to themselves. French hunters and fur-traders, too, made their way into the West far in advance of their English rivals, and doubt less reached the confines of Michigan early in the seven teenth century. Their course, however, was not along the great watery highway through Lakes Ontario and Erie and the Niagara River, for there dwelt the fierce, untamable Iro quois, the bravest and most politic of all the Indians of North America, whom Champlain, by an ill-advised attack, had made the deadly enemies of the French. With the Hurons, or Wyandots, who though a branch of the same race were the foes of the Iroquois, the French were fast friends, and had no difficulty in penetrating westward as far as their domain extended. Their seats were on the eastern side of Lake Huron, while our peninsula was occupied by Ottawas, Ojibwas (or Chippewas}, and Pottawattamies, not perhaps as friendly as the Hurons, but standing in fear of the conquering Iroquois, and therefore disposed to be on good terms with the French foes of that confederacy. The course of the intrepid missionaries and traders was up the Ottawa River from Montreal ; thence across to the western division of Lake Huron, otherwise known as Lake Manitouline, and thence coasting along the northern shore of that body of water to the Saut Sainte Marie and the Straits of Michillimacinac. In the year 1641, the Jesuits Raymbault and Jogues reached the former point, preached to a crowd of savages, and raised the flag of France, in token of sovereignty, beside the rushing outlet of Lake Superior. Doubtless other mis sionaries and numerous voyageurs and fur-traders explored the outskirts of Michigan, and possibly penetrated its in terior, but there are few records to show their adventurous deeds. In 1659, the Wyandots, or Hurons, fled from the valley of the St. Lawrence before the- attacks of the Iroquois, seeking shelter in the islands of Lake Manitouline. The Ottawawas, since called Ottawas, who had previously re sided there, retired to the northern part of the main penin sula of Michigan. The Wyandots, or a portion of them, again assailed by the Iroquois, fled to the Straits of Mich illimacinac, and still again to the shores of Lake Superior. Being again followed by their implacable enemies, however, they were enabled to repulse them, and thenceforward, being to some extent protected by the French, the Wyandots dwelt on the borders of the great lakes which surround the peninsula of Michigan. In 1668, the celebrated Father Marquette, accompanied by Father Claude Dablon, founded a mission at Saut Sainte HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 11 Marie, at the northern extremity of Michigan; and in 1671 established that of St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mich- illimacinac (now spelled Mackinaw). In 1670, a French officer, Daumont de St. Lusson, raised the flag of France at the Saut Sainte Marie with pompous ceremonies, and, so far as words could do so, took possession of the whole region of the great lakes in the name of " the Most High, Mighty, and Redoubtable Monarch, Louis, Fourteenth of that name, Most Christian King ot France and of Navarre." But the French were by no means disposed to rest con tent with sounding proclamations. Still eager to spread the reign of the cross among the heathen, and doubtless not unwilling to extend the domain of King Louis over new empires, the intrepid Marquette pushed forward into the wilderness, and discovered the mighty stream which has since borne the name of Mississippi. Shortly afterwards, in 1773, while coasting along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, Marquette discovered a stream which he explored for several miles, and to which he gave "the name of St. Joseph. This was, so far as known, the first acquaintance of Europeans with the fertile valley, in the eastern part of which lies the county of Branch. But a still greater explorer than Marquette was about to traverse the lakes and lands of the great West, though, un like Marquette, he did not subordinate all other objects to the spread of his religion. In the month of August, 1679, the wonder-stricken savages on the shores of Detroit River saw what seemed to them a huge canoe, with immense wings, stemming the powerful current without the aid of oars or paddles, and swiftly traversing the placid sheet of water now known as Lake St. Clair. This was the " Griffin," a schooner of sixty tons, built the preceding winter and spring on the shore of the Niagara, just above the great cataract, and which on the 7th of August had set forth on the first voyage ever made by a sail vessel over the waters of the upper lakes. Its commander was Robert Cavelier de La Salle, the most hardy and adventurous of all the gal lant Frenchmen who explored the wilds of North America, and the one whose discoveries did the most to extend the dominions of his royal master. The only portrait which has been preserved of La Salle represents him as a blue-eyed, handsome eavalier with blonde ringlets, apparently better fitted for the salons of Paris than the forests of America ; but a thousand evidences show not only the courage but the extraordinary vigor and hardi hood of this remarkable man. He was accompanied by Tonti, a gallant Italian exile, who was his second in com mand, by Father Hennepin, a Franciscan monk, who became the historian ofthe expedition, and by about thirty sailors, voyageurs, hunters, etc. The " Griffin" passed on over the tempest-tossed waters of Lake Huron, through the Strait of Michillimacinac, out upon the unknown waste of Lake Michigan, and at length came to anchor in Green Bay,; Thence she was sent back with a part of her crew and a cargo of fursj while the in trepid La Salle with a score of men remained to explore the vast unconquered empire which lay spread before him. He and his comrades in birch-bark canoes coasted along j;he western shore of Lake MichigaHi, reaching its southern extremity on the eighteenth day of October, 1679. Thence the flotilla proceeded to the mouth of the St. Joseph River.* At its mouth he built a fortified trading-post, to which he gave the name of Fort of the Miamis, and which was in tended both to facilitate commerce and curb the hostility of the surrounding tribes. Pottawattamies were found at the southern end and on the western shore of Lake Michi gan. This trading-post, or fort, was the first built for the pur pose of controlling the Indians of this part of the Northwest, and its erection, coincident with the appearance of a French vessel on the upper lakes, may be considered as marking the establishment of French authority (though somewhat vague) over the peninsula of Michigan, including the county which is the subject of this history. La Salle and his comrades remained several weary months at the St. Joseph awaiting the return of the " Griffin," but that ill-fated bark was never heard of after leaving the outlet of Green Bay. Whether, as is probable, it went down with all its men before the gales of one of the great inland seas, or was captured at anchor by jealous savages, its crew butchered and the ves sel itself destroyed, is one of the unsolved problems of American history. Despairing at length of the " Griffin's" return, La Salle with a portion of his men in December proceeded up the St. Joseph River in canoes to South Bend, in the present State of Indiana, whence they made their way overland to the head-waters of the Illinois. The future career of this ad venturous explorer is not especially connected with the history of this region, and must be dismissed in a few words. After numerous remarkable adventures (being compelled once to return to Canada on foot) La Salle' explored the Mississippi to the sea, and took verbal possession of the adjacent country for the benefit of King Louis the Four teenth, by the name of Louisiana. While attempting, how ever, to colonize the new domain he met with many mis fortunes, and was at length assassinated by two of his own men in Texas, in the year 1687. But, notwithstanding the unfortunate end of the great discoverer, his achievements had extended the dominion of France more widely than had any of his adventurous com patriots, and from that time forth the Bourbon kings main tained an ascendency more or less complete throughout all the vast region extending' from Quebec to New Orleans, until compelled to resign it nearly a century later by the prowess of the British. French vessels circled around the great lakes on the track of the ill-fated " Griffin," French forts and trading-posts were established in the wilderness, and French missionaries bore the cross among the heathen with redoubled zeal. French adroitness succeeded in estab lishing friendly relations with the Indians on the shores of all the upper lakes, and members of all the various bands found their way to Fort Frontenac (now Kingston), and even to Montreal, with packages of furs to sell to the chil dren of their great father across the sea. The English, busily engaged in building up a powerful but compact empire along the sea-coast, scarcely attempted to rival • From a few Miamis who were then located there, La Salle called it the river of the Miamis. 12 HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN. their Gallic competitors in gaining control over the immense interior. The various Indian tribes doubtless would have rejected with scorn the idea of French ownership in the lands which they and their fathers had so long occupied, but as between the English and French it was substantially understood that the dominion of the former extended from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to that of the Mississippi. The only question was where the boundary line should be between the two domains. The Indians around the upper lakes were the more ready to court the friendship of the French, since it was only from the latter that they could obtain arms and ammunition to contest with the terrible Iroquois. After the time of La Salle the French government supported a post, and the Jesuit fathers maintained a mission, at the mouth of the St. Joseph, and the two institutions became a centre of in fluence over all the southern part of the peninsula. In 1701, however, another frontier post was established, destined soon to overshadow that of St. Joseph. In that year Monsieur La Motte de Cadillac, an officer in the service of the King of France, with a small detachment of troops, landed at the head of Detroit River, and established a post to which he gave the name of " Fort Ponchartrain," but which soon became known by the appellation of " Detroit." This post and the whole of Michigan were nominally a part of the province of Canada, and so remained during both French and English rule. During the French dominion, however, the provincial government exercised very little authority, except to appoint commanders of the various posts. Those commanders ruled both the soldiers and the few civilians about as they saw proper. The establishment of this post increased still more the influence of the French throughout the West, and especially throughout the peninsula of Michigan. There seemed little doubt that this whole region was to be subject to French rule, and fancy might have pictured these gleaming lakes and rippling rivers overlooked by the baronial castles of French seigneurs, while around them clustered the humble dwellings of their loyal retainers. French hunters and trappers made their way into all parts of the peninsula, establishing friendly relations with the natives, and not unfrequently forming unions more or less permanent with the copper-colored damsels of the various tribes. Of these tribes we are especially concerned with the Pottawattamies, who soon obtained entire control of the valley of the St. Joseph, who are known to have been fully established here in 1721, and who for over a century were the undisputed lords of its noble forests, its pellucid lakes and its grassy glades. From the time of the early discov eries already mentioned down to the beginning of settle ment and cultivation by the whites, the history of the territory now composing Branch County, with the rest of the St, Joseph Valley, is confined substantially to the doings of the Pottawattamie Indians. To them and their deeds the following three chapters are devoted. CHAPTER III. THE POTTAWATTAMIES. General Relations of the Indian Tribes — Iroquois and Algonquin* — Their Location — Numerous Tribes of Algonquin Race — The Potta wattamies — Their League with the Ottawas and Chippewas — Their Establishment in the Saint Joseph Valley — Changes of Location- Absence of Romance — Indian Warfare — Indian Weapons — Sur prising an Enemy — Insult and Torture — Adoption — The Mission of Saint J oseph — Pottawattamie Friendship for the French— Rescue of Detroit — Trading with French and English — The War of 1744 — Raids on the Frontiers — French Records of the Pottawattamies — Peace in 1748. In order to give a correct idea of the position and history of the Pottawattamie Indians, so long the lords of Branch County and all the adjacent country, it is necessary very briefly to sketch the general relations of the Indians of this part of North America. Of course the writer of a mere county history does not pretend to have investigated this abstruse subject by reference to original sources of informa tion ; he is obliged to depend on those who have made those matters the study of their lives, — especially on Fran cis Parkman, the accomplished author of the " Conspiracy of Pontiac," the " Discovery of the Great West," and other works on cognate subjects. When the French and English hunters first penetrated the dark forests whose gloomy masses rolled from the shores ofthe North Atlantic far back beyond the Alleghanies, and when the most adventurous among them first gladdened their eyes with the gay prairies still farther westward, they found two great Indian races occupying the whole land from the ocean to the Mississippi, and from the valleys of Ten nessee to the frozen regions of Northern Canada. South ward of these limits were the Mobilian tribes, of whom the Cherolcees, Chickasaws, and others have since adopted to some extent the customs of the whites, while west of the Father of Waters were the great Dakota race, whose prin cipal representatives, the Sioux, still roam in savage freedom over the prairies, a terror to all who cross their path. The two races, who, as stated a few lines above, occupied the whole northeastern portion of the United States and a large part of Canada, were the Iroquois and the Algonquins. Though the former were the most celebrated and the most powerful, the latter were by far the most numerous ; in fact, as has been truly said, the former were like an island amid the vast hordes of Algonquins around. The five confederate tribes of the Iroquois, commonly known as the Five Nations (afterwards the Six Nations), occupied a strong position, extending from the banks of the Hudson nearly to those of the Niagara, protected on the north by the waters of Lake Ontario, on the south by the mountains of Pennsyl vania, and now comprising the heart of the great Empire State. The Wyandots, or Hurons, before mentioned, were an outlying branch of the same race, but hostile to the great confederacy ; while the Tuscaroras were a friendly offshoot in the South, who afterwards became the sixth of the Six Nations. Aside from these, the woods and prairies far and near swarmed with the diverse tribes of the Algonquin race ; Abenaquis in Canada, Pequots and Narragansetts in New England, Delawares in Pennsylvania, Shawnees in Ohio, HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 13 Miamis in Ohio and Indiana, Illinois in the territory of the State which still bears their name, Sauks, Foxes^ and Meno- monees in the country west of Lake Michigan, while the great peninsula of Michigan, and some neighboring sections, were occupied by the Ojibways, or Chippewas, the Ottawas, and the tribe which is the especial subject of this chapter, the Pottawattamies. All these, though sundered far apart, and often warring desperately among themselves, have been shown by students of their characteristics to have belonged to one great stock, and to have spoken various dialects of one language. They outnumbered the Five Nations of Iroquois more than ten to one ; yet such was the superior skill, sagacity, and prowess of the confederates that they were able to defeat their disunited foes one after the other, till none could stand before them, and the terror of their name spread over half the continent. Even the Wyandots, though of the same race, and almost equal in numbers, lacked the ferocious energy of the Five Nations, and were driven before them as deer are driven before the screaming panther. The three tribes of Algonquin stock just mentioned, the Ojibwas, the Ottawas, and the Pottawattamies, were in the forepart of the eighteenth century united in a rude confederacy, somewhat similar to the celebrated league of the Iroquois, but far less thorough and less potent. The dialects of the three tribes differed less even than was usual among the various branches of the Algonquin race, and, notwithstanding some differences of inflection, the members could understand each other without the aid of an interpreter. The Ojibwas, outnumbering both the other two tribes combined, dwelt in the frozen region of Lake Superior, where their descendants still chase the elk and moose amid the gloomy pines, and spear their finny prey over the sides of frail canoes, rocked on the boiling waters of the Saut Sainte Marie. The Ottawas, who had fled from Canada before the hatred of the all-conquering Iroquois, had their principal headquarters in the vicinity of Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, where, after the erection of Fort Pon- ohartrain by their French friends, they felt comparatively secure from their terrible enemies. Finally, the domain of the Pottawattamies, the subject of these chapters, stretched from the vicinity of Chicago around the head of Lake Michi gan, northward to the mouth of the Kalamazoo or beyond, while to the eastward it extended so as to include the valleys ofthe St. Joseph, the Kalamazoo, and other streams which flow into Lake Michigan from the central portion of the peninsula. The exact period at which the Pottawattamies established themselves in the valley of the St. Joseph is unknown. Unless La Salle was mistaken, the Miamis occupied the banks of the St. Joseph in 1678, at which time the Potta wattamies are believed to have been mostly in the vicinity of Green Bay. It is certain, however, that they were in the St. Joseph Valley in 1721 (having probably established themselves there about the beginning of the century), and there they remained until within the memory of men still living. It will be understood, however, that the location of the various tribes of the Iroquois and Algonquin races at that distant period can only be given with approximate correct ness. Their boundaries were constantly changing. Tribes were frequently driven by the fortunes of war from the homes of their fathers, or even blotted from the list of forest nationalities. Sometimes they changed their locali ties in search of more abundant game, and sometimes no cause but caprice could be assigned for their migrations. Not only did whole tribes occasionally change their loca tions, but in many cases outlying clans dwelt at a long distance from the parent tribe, being sometimes surrounded by the villages of other nations. Thus, though the main body of the Pottawattamies were to be found as early as 1721 stretching from the head of Lake Michigan eastward to the head of the St. Joseph River, there were for a con siderable time two or three detached villages in the vicinity of Detroit, and others in the neighborhood of Green Bay. Besides these more permanent changes of location, the several bands of which each nation was composed were, even in time of peace, constantly migrating to and fro over the domain which unquestionably belonged to their tribe. In summer they raised corn (that is, the squaws did) in one place, in winter they hunted in another, perhaps a hundred miles distant, and in spring they visited still another location for the purpose of fishing ; usually but not always returning to their -former ground to raise and harvest their crops. Yet, notwithstanding these various changes by which the Pottawattamies were more or less affected, they continued for over a century and a quarter the masters of the territory composing this county, and their bloody record is perhaps quite as deserving of being embodied in history as are those of several other con querors. While, however, the admirers of stirring adventure and desperate conflict may find something of interest in the story .of an Indian tribe, it would be hopeless for the lover of romance to seek there for aught to gratify his taste. No truthful delineation can present the Indian as a romantic character. Apathetic in an extraordinary degree in regard to the softer passions, it is seldom, indeed, that love sways his actions, although the slightest cause is liable to arouse him to the direst fury of hate. He had rather capture one scalp than a dozen hearts. The Pottawattamie inherited the usual characteristics of the Indian, and especially of the Algonquin race. Less ter rible in battle, less sagacious in council, than the men of the Five Nations, he was, nevertheless, like the rest of his red brethren, a brave, hardy, and skillful warrior, an astute man ager so far as his knowledge extended, generally a faithful friend, and invariably a most implacable enemy. His own time he devoted to war, the chase, or idleness, abandoning to the women the labor of raising his scanty supplies of Indian corn, pumpkins, and beans,