tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75246543221321640962024-03-11T20:52:58.600-04:00Richard Geldhof's BlogRichard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.comBlogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-76396599865802543852017-09-06T22:16:00.001-04:002017-09-06T22:16:31.109-04:00The True Way: Spirit Encounters in Dreams -3In my second hour sophomore high school class, age 14, I had US history. My teacher was Gene Van Dongen and he always knew that twenty minutes into the day's lesson I was daydreaming. I sat expressionless as my eyes closed or had a blank stare and it was then he asked me a question. He replied, "Earth to Richard, earth calling Richard, the answer to my question please?" He baited me to respond with "Duh," and groggily I uttered an answer far removed to the topic of discussion. My classmates broke out in laughter and ultimately I was sent to the principal's office as the class disruptor. This was the same scene as if taken from a 1980's movie script called "Explorers."<br />
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I couldn't help the daydreaming. My mind was traveling at the speed of light to escape the pain and confusion swirling in my head to escape harm. I was troubled, but couldn't explain how I felt before the pain started. My mind was so confused. Gene, my teacher told my parents I needed professional help and doctors, internal medicine specialists and psychiatrists poked and prodded for clues to my unknown illness with no results. Everybody thought I was faking the illness and the conclusion was I went daydreaming to escape studying.<br />
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I was daydreaming not by choice, but by survival - it was the way to escape my pain - severe headaches that got worse as the school day progressed. I left the world behind and was an earlier explorer floating down the Grand River or dreaming about Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain steamboatin on the Missouri and Ohio Rivers or rafting with Huckleberry Finn on the mighty Mississippi River) - anyplace was better than listening to Gene in excruciating physical pain.<br />
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The summer before school started while in a State Park Campground near Lake Superior I had on a full moon night to see the Norse Horsemen riding the Northern Lights (Aurealis Borealis) in different colors and hues dance over Lake Superior. The reds above closest, the blue, green and yellow wisps dipping and shifting aimlessly across the dark lake. Add to this scene the double exposure on mirrored water surfaces - a rare occurrence for Lake Superior and both happened in one night complete with shooting stars. Another breathtaking incidence occurred when seeing five wide rainbows over Whitefish Bay east of Paradise, MI. Beautiful!<br />
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Suddenly an old man of 93 years was being lead to the shore by his grandchildren. He had been a farmer in Michigan's upper peninsula his entire life and had never seen the Northern Lights - "so beautiful" he said. Farmers go to bed at sundown - the eyelids drop and he enters the land of nods and dreams. His grandchildren helped him sit down in the sand and left a few minutes and I explained several legends about the mystical nite lights of heaven as we watched them shimmer and dance across the sky. With a chill in the air they returned and lifted him from the sand. They took both of his arms and lead him up the 80 step staircase. It was the highlight of my summer. As Mark Twain would say with his vulgar talk "We've become damn good storytellers." Twain's wife was a Christian woman who hated his swearing too much during lectures and that habit I don't do."....continued<br />
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Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-44642971279804417552017-09-05T22:30:00.001-04:002017-09-05T22:30:24.296-04:00The True Way: Spirit Encounters in Dreams -2Imagine what we wouldn't have in life without our dreams or that of others? That is Star Wars or Star Trek creations.? You know to boldly go and discover what lies beyond the galaxies in outer space. I've never been a huge fan of Star Trek starring William Shatner. I chose to pick and choose wisely, but do love Star Trek IV with the transportation of whales back into the future.<br />
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All of us currently live in a world that's spinning so fast. Life unfolds and technology changes in less than five years. True what we say, think and do so is different every 15 years. We evolve and change our opinions - sometimes completely opposite. That's what gets so many politicians into trouble - what they once thought is different in the near future. No longer can one complete higher learning, graduate and coast thru life otherwise certifications and licenses go extinct after five years. We become what we are when we continually fail to educate ourselves - education is the fuel that makes dreams possible. As Mr. Spock of Star Trek said, "Live long and prosper." <br />
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Past science fiction is closer to non fiction. Got to keep learning - can't ever stop unless it is your desire to grow old and die sooner than expected. Learning keeps you young at heart. When in high school I was like three junior high adventurous boys in a movie called "Explorers." All three boys had visionary dreams simultaneously - a galaxy adventure starring River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke. Curious of their dreams they set out to discover what electro magnetic force fields could teach them about space travel and who was talking to them in dreams It was space alien children who stole dad's mini-spaceship and were joyriding around the heavens to find secrets of the universe and why Earth was such a hostile place to live. Our music fascinated them - but the streaming videos showed them what they did like - the hostilities of mankind. Still they were attracted to Earthlings.<br />
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This 1980's sci-fi fantasy movie is chock full of humor, warmth and the hopes of three impression able young minds to keep on dreaming and hope for a better future. Without all our dreams there is no future for they are what we make of life. The boys soon discover an energy force (shields when computer activated encapsulates their crude spaceship inside a magnetic sphere where inertia movement makes them impervious to harm.<br />
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Once inside the perfectly round sphere nobody or anything can enter the capsule and the magnetic pulse propels them thru space at the speed of light. Inside the sphere is a carnival converted Tilt-a-Wheel they made into a spacecraft and welded a metal garbage can over the window for a heat shield. They launch themselves into a fantastic interplanetary journey to discover their own version of secrets of the universe. Aliens were summoning them in their dreams from outer space - an unknown force was actively fishing for them by providing bait and reeled in their catch. Lots of life lessons in this movie that parallels the life of the boys as seen thru their eyes and actions of adults. I know people hate cliff hangers, but until next time (continued - heard you growl)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-71116292260885623182017-08-02T00:02:00.001-04:002017-08-02T00:02:22.877-04:00The True Way: Spirit Encounters in Dreams - 1Odd title don't you think?<br />
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I haven't been writing my blog now for several years. I am still alive and thought I should tell faithful family, friends and strangers what I've been writing about true way encounters. I've been freestyle writing about my dreams and the destiny of Christian believers and non-believers and those who have encountered angels and spirits - seen in visions or heard voices in dreams, the intuitions, premonitions and divine encounters and interventions that saved lives. I've been writing about the dreamers I've met; the angels and spirits who influenced their lives. <br />
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Dreams! We all have them in our sleep and in daydreams in black and white or Technicolor. Many times we daydream when work is boring and need a break. No dreaming while driving or in class or when working with machinery. We should concentrate on our studies; you know sitting in class trying to listen to an important lecture and nodding off or doing tedious office work and trying to keep our eyes open and focused, but alas it was not meant to be. We are off to the land of nod. Now it doesn't get easier, but harder to keep those eyes open when retired. Retirees get tired easier and several power naps each day are good for dreaming to escape old age maladies or reaching to attain the dreams with limited horsepower. The young sprint towards dream goals or are just desperately to find themselves; who they are and what they want out of life before they suffer the same fate (lost time) as retirees.<br />
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Face reality! We all have tendencies to daydream. Maybe it's an adventure to go where you've never been before or where you saw something on social media that pricked your interest. For those religious God made us more powerful than a locomotive, oops supercomputers, but we still haven't as mankind been able to master much more than 10% of human intelligence. No matter what level of IQ we have we have a propensity to get ourselves into trouble - some to more or lesser degrees.<br />
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There are plans in our dreams yet to be discovered. Where and what would Earth look like if it were not for dreamers. Listen intently to the messages given by angels and spirits that rise from your dreams. Most angels and spirits are harmless, but pay heed to what you heard. If God is angered he directs His angels to take appropriate actions as He directs. Listen and obey commands; they might keep you safe from danger or make you successful. But, remember if you are Christian or religious God had our destiny planned before we were born. Many mentors helped shape who we've become.<br />
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Many times I've sat in church at a funeral services hoping to hear a few choice nuggets of information about the body lying in the casket below the pulpit. I wonder if that individual had a meaningful life. Sure pastors, ministers, the rabbi or priest showed up at family visitations hoping to glean some useful info out of visitors. It always amazes me that many didn't really understand the complexities; the uniqueness of the person they came to respect. Who impacted their life the most? Continued.....Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-62000461501177891002016-02-15T00:49:00.000-05:002016-02-15T00:49:06.471-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -45 So what happened to Cobmoosa's gold coinage is unknown, but some scholars assert the Chief's gold and silver coinage was hidden or buried in a secret location along Cobmoosa Creek or Cobmoosa Lake vicinity. Think iron kettle. Like Wabasis' lost treasure so to Cobmoosa may have buried his cache. Afterall he probably told Wabasis where to bury his treasure, too, and many have tried without success because they never knew exactly what might be buried. Oh sure, some have claimed they have found the treasures, but it's never been proven and claim's are just hearsay evidence.<br />
Back then nobody knew what it was they were looking for? Treasure yes, but they couldn't describe it. But now you know the coins are stamped Treaty of 1836 or 1836 and those who are skilled with diving rods can actually time date the coins and find them. Happy hunting.<br />
You might wonder what set me off on the story of Cobmoosa.<br />
Well, I like Cobmoosa am prone to not traveling highways just to get someplace fast. I take my time traveling off a direct path and seeing the beauty of Michigan. I enjoy exploring the back out of the way roads and found Cobmoosa's monument in Elbridge Township as shown on a western Michigan map and found it. Actually there are two monument sites. Another is in Ionia County somewhere along the Grand River.<br />
Cobmoosa was indeed "The Last Designated Indian Chief of the Ottawa's of the Grand River Valley in 1855."<br />
As Paul Harvey would sign off at his noon hour Chicago radio show, "Now you know the rest of the story," about The Legend of Cobmoosa and President Andrew Jackson.<br />
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Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-45397871538719188212016-02-15T00:19:00.001-05:002016-02-15T00:19:19.367-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa and Pres. A. J. -44 Old Cobmoosa didn't spend much time in his new log cabin. Traverse City residents crossed paths with him near a stream crossing about halfway between Traverse City and Pentwater. The chief was a walking nomad at age 95. He had reportedly been visiting friends again at the Traverse reservation. This last trek wore him out to the point he couldn't walk much anymore and he stayed in Elbridge with his caretakers; Negounce, Mrs. Negake and Mrs. Bailey until his death.<br />
Now you might think that this is the end of Cobmoosa's legacy, but you would be wrong. Cobmoosa lived four more years and died in 1866 at 98 years. It is during his last four years that he held many conversations with young men living on the reservation with little to do. He told them they were all citizens of Michigan and America. He told them it was time for them to do the right thing and join the Yankees (Union) fight against the Confederate south in the Civil War.<br />
Why? "We are resident brothers and stick together for the betterment of community." He was adamant it was their right as northern Indians to participate and serve them and forget the past.<br />
And so it came to pass that many young Indian fighters of three fires enlisted and were assigned to Michigan's Company K. <br />
Nearly all perished along with friendly white and black men fighting with guerilla warfare against Confederate and Cherokees at the Battle of the Wilderness. Those who survived this battle wrote down memories of what they witnessed of the "People of Three Fires" screaming war cries as they fought hand to hand combat with Confederate Cherokees in a raging forest fire. Those who white soldiers watched them fight in a blazing fire, which haunted their memories for years.<br />
Memoirs in the Library of Congress tell how the brave northern and southern Indians fought during battle in a forest fire. The war cries of both tribes haunted their dreams. The Battle of the Wilderness was near Chancellorsville, Pennsylvania. Union losses were 17,666 dead out of 118,000. Confederate losses were 8,000 out of 61,000.<br />
A monument stone was erected in honor of Cobmoosa in 1927 and re-dedicated in 2012 by over 100 of the Cobmoosa's descendants, relatives and friends. Cobmoosa's monument stands proudly on an embankment in Oceana County one mile east of the Elbridge Township Hall on Polk road then 1.25 miles or so south on 144th Street.<br />
He was buried under a small knoll that in his day looked down Cobmoosa Creek and over the countryside of Cobmoosa Lake. Unknown is whether anyone knew he was a Christian Indian? Or just he want to be buried beside other Indians? Perhaps!<br />
In Elbridge Township east and west, north and south roads are named after the 16 Presidents of the United States of America that held office during Cobmoosa's life. These were Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, VanBuren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Filmore, Pierce, Buchanan and Lincoln. (continued). <br />
<br />Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-85637334820037715542016-02-14T23:22:00.001-05:002016-02-14T23:22:49.578-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -43 <u>Timeline spring of 1862. </u> Return with me to find Cobmoosa standing in his doorway with a throng of Indians watching him loosen the drawstrings of his poke to reveal the gold coins engraved Treaty of 1836 or 1836. President Andrew Jackson provided him his proof who he was, but not before he answered questions only he could answer. He had been absent from his village people for four years and had aged greatly. Once a handsome man he was now a bent over man that time neglected.<br />
His coins were proof positive that citizen Andrew Jackson kept his promise and paid the Indians in gold and silver coins as he ordered for dispersal in 1838. No longer could Indians be paid with paper currency. Instead gold and silver so marked with the Treaty under which paid.<br />
<u> Timeline summer 1863.</u> Cobmoosa was summoned to the Indian Reservation at Traverse City by an aged chief. Unknown was his name, but he had bad news. Seems Cobmoosa's foster son, Chief Wabasis had been killed by Chief Neogamah of Plainfield Village and his white friend four miles southeast of Rockford at a Rum Creek crossing in Cannon Township. Cobmoosa knew it was Neogamah because he swore he'd kill Wabasis if he left his banishment garden plot at Wabasis Lake some 10 miles east/northeast of Rockford. He was tricked into leaving, because Neogamah felt he was never going to find Wabasis' cache he reportedly buried before 1836.<br />
Neogomah standing before a tribal council prior the the treaty signing accused Wabasis of hoarding and burying his annuity payments. This was false. Wabasis repeatedly told Neogamah he had to appear in person in Grand Rapids to claim his money, but Neogamah was lazy as were other rebel Indians and didn't go, but they accused Wabasis of stealing their money. Wasn't true!<br />
Failure to appear meant money could not be passed on to him and they were further unaware of the <i>specie circular payment.</i> This renegade disliked Wabasis and felt to get his revenge after a 27 year absence, he had to trick Wabasis off his homestead and kill him, but Wabasis never sold tribal lands and ignorant Indians didn't understand that Washington paid them according to their actions and changed the monetary payment guidelines.<br />
Wabasis death angered many of the old Indian Chiefs still living at all those living on four reservations; Pentwater, Traverse City and Mt. Pleasant in Michigan and reservations in Missouri and they swore out a death warrant against Neogamah and friend. <br />
Most angered was 94-year old Cobmoosa. Many tears of sorrow fell from Cobmoosa's eyes for days. He mentored John Wabasis in the ways of respect and both were highly respected. It was a senseless retribution by Neogamah who carried out a vendetta to kill Wabasis. <br />
Cobmoosa and Wabasis were the peacekeepers of the Grand River Valley. They quieted potential Indian Wars before hostilities began and saved countless lives; Indian and pioneer settlers. The oldest chiefs swore out a death sentence against the murderers if they showed up on any reservation lands.<br />
Chief Wabasis got his revenge. Antrim and Mason Counties in Michigan were named in honor of a southern well-respected Chief name Wabasis (Wabahsee or Wabasuh), which is documented in history books of those counties. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-7668898323648404352016-02-14T20:11:00.003-05:002016-02-14T20:11:45.797-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A. J. -42 Houston's band of fighters collected more volunteer citizens coming to fight. Houston received word from Jackson that soon he'd have enough fighters to defeat Santa Anna. They were coming brandishing guns, ammunition and food to feed an army of men. All paid for by citizen Andrew Jackson - the pay it forward man. He paid it for the benefit of his people and America.<br />
So many volunteers rushed to serve that they didn't have enough food and so everyone was given less than full rations. All the men who answered the call from citizen Jackson and then Houston's fighters attacked and the fight was on when Houston stopped retreating and changed direction. Santa Anna's army was surrounded. <br />
After 38 days of retreat and jousting Houston brought his legions of volunteers to bear when they crossed the Buffalo River and defeated Santa Anna's forces at the junction of Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River. Santa Anna's forces were annihilated and the Mexican president became a prisoner of war. His remaining army fled back across the Rio Grande back into Mexico.<br />
Jackson knew Houston wouldn't run from diversity. Patience is sometimes the better part of valor. Quick to fight with a hot temper works sometimes, but Jackson pondered the "what if's of battle." Studying the enemy in relation to your own forces can save the lives of valiant soldiers. Stirred Indians rushed to fight whereas patience fighters lived longer and knew how a battle should unfold to gain the upper hand.<br />
President Jackson's last term in office had lots of emergent things to challenge his mind and heart, but that's what a President is supposed to do. Not sit on the sidelines and wait without a plan of action. Many citizens thought Jackson lost his mind when he ordered his <i>specie circular</i> payments in gold and silver coinage. He prevailed and turned America around financially. He couldn't halt the financial collapse, but he lessened the severity.<br />
Throughout his life he was taught the difference between right and wrong. Just because he grew up wild and fatherless didn't mean his mother's words fell off his deaf ears, but when he became a politician then he knew his mother taught him well despite the fact she wanted him to become a minister. He became a prankster and a self made ladies man. He led a hard life and spent his years in the White House without religion. He envisioned that having religion was political suicide.<br />
He was the survivor of many things and it wasn't until he left office did he convert to Christianity in July 1838 in his mother's church at a time when he was almost blind in one eye and quite feeble. He died peacefully June 8, 1845 and is buried in his estate garden on the grounds of his beloved "Hermitage" he rescued from ruin in 1837.<br />
On March 4, 1837 and one year after the death of his friend Davey Crockett - well Old Hickory retired to his home, the Hermitage to find it neglected and in disrepair. His 1000 acres of cotton was ruined by Tennessee's worst drought in memory. After having paid it forward to American Indians and Texas Independence as citizen Jackson he still had enough money in his coffer to buy his son Andrew a 20,000 acre farm and had money left over to repair the Hermitage and so let's return to Cobmoosa's legend because it ain't over and Cobmoosa had a secret. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-44484480954761828522016-02-14T16:02:00.001-05:002016-02-14T16:02:11.702-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -41 President Jackson was a formidable military commander. He had special talents in dealing with Indians and as did General Jackson of America's military operations in the War of 1812-1818. Sam Houston was a United States politician who like Davey Crockett longed for adventure and lived among the Cherokee Indians of Texas most of his life and helped Presidents of the U.S. arrange Indian treaties.<br />
The Texan rebels who caused the Alamo catastrophe were those American citizens who settled on Mexican lands and did so at their own peril. They became the squatters who didn't like President Santa Anna's rule and tried to overthrow Mexico and lost. Jackson couldn't let Federal forces interfere. America had no authority nor capital to wage war so Jackson abstained.<br />
Jackson felt the winds of change. He had to remain neutral. Since he was the outsider it gave him time to make preparations as a citizen and not President, but he had to dissuade Sam Houston from taking a government military task force back to aid the rebels in Texas and drive out Santa Anna's Mexican army. This would give Jackson the time needed to figure out how to defeat Santa Anna. Houston's volunteer citizen forces could annihilate him, but only if reinforcements arrived.<br />
Jackson heard after the fact that Houston broke the American-Mexican Treaty when Houston's small army attacked Santa Anna's small outposts and pushed Mexicans across the Rio Grande River. This maneuver angered Santa Anna in Mexico, which returned full force with 7000 soldiers and killed the rebel fighters at the Alamo. This is what started the Alamo fiasco.<br />
Jackson then ordered surveillance of Houston's movements and from Houston extracted a "pledge of honor" from him to respect and not invade Mexico without sufficient forces to defeat Santa Anna. He then told Houston to collect the small bands of Texas fighters and his own fighters and retreat across the Red River near the US Border out of Santa Anna's reach. <br />
Military observers wanted Houston to retreat back onto American soil, but Jackson disagreed and let Houston take charge. He would wait before leading the charge until he had significant forces to return. Word went out like wild fire that citizen Andrew Jackson was personally paying all the expenses to resurrect a volunteer citizen army to defeat Santa Anna out of respect for Crockett, Russell and Jim Bowie.<br />
Citizen Andrew Jackson paid it forward again for food, ammunition and accommodations for volunteers. Getting the necessary manpower would give citizen Jackson three weeks or so to send from the Cincinnati foundry two 4-pound iron cannons for Houston's battle plan.<br />
These were the first of four cannons to be founded at the Cincinnati foundry several weeks before the Alamo fight commenced. Two were put on the bow of a steamboat down the Ohio River and Mississippi River to Sam Houston waiting at New Orleans. These were the Twin Sisters cannons of Texas. The other two went to Michigan.<br />
Jackson's White House study was littered with maps everywhere and Jackson poured over them day and night. He was the battle hardy commander and eventually told Houston to split.... (continued) <br />
Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-42251664971969090282016-02-14T14:45:00.000-05:002016-02-14T14:45:22.868-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -40 ...Jackson left the dispatch unopened until later that day. He anticipated the probability that another Indian War could break out between rebel Indians and settlers. Months earlier he received missionary warnings saying that war drums were beating louder each night. After opening the dispatch pouch he ordered an Army detachment to depart immediately with two 4-lb cannons to southern Michigan in advance of treaty signing (Mar. 28th). Inside the dispatch pouch inside was a letter from Sam Houston bearing grave news.<br />
He wrote, "374 brave American citizen volunteer fighters were killed by Santa Anna's 7000 strong Mexican army at the Alamo in the Texas Republic on March 4, 1836. Among the dead were listed his friends and colleagues, the former House of Representative Davy Crockett, his friends Gorge Russell and Jim Bowie (Bowie knife). All had volunteered to fight for Texas independence.<br />
Crockett served America as a Representative from Tennessee 1831-1835. Crockett loved his independence and exploring new frontiers and didn't seek reelection. President Jackson and Congress was saddened by the news.<br />
There were those in Congress who wanted the Federal government to fight, but America had no legal right nor big Army or government resources to arm themselves for battle with Santa Anna's forces. Jackson refused all attempts by angry Congressmen to enter and save the lives of other American citizens, who were in essence rebels against Mexican authorities. Why?<br />
Because before his presidency the United States had already signed an earlier treaty with Mexico that prohibited Washington's intervention into the affairs of Mexico. The government could not seize land for American revolutionists. Any interference by government forces was an act of war.<br />
Jackson had received word in late 1835 that a fighting force of volunteer American citizens were threatening Mexico. He purposely closed his eyes to the emigration of American settlers lugging guns rather than plough shares and guns were popping. Jackson was already fighting two battles; Indian treaties and financial ruin of American citizens and a world-wide catastrophe. These were his most important factors. <br />
Since Jackson didn't advise Houston on what to do Houston's small volunteer army had illegally trespassed and fought against small detachments of Mexican forces across the Rio Grande River. Mexican president Santa Anna was furious. Santa Anna (President) and Commander of his military forces returned towards the Alamo with a massive Mexican army and viciously attacked the Alamo. <br />
Those in the south and west were waiting for a swarm of revolutionists to defeat Santa Anna, but only a small force arrived to protect the Alamo. Houston's charge pushing the Mexican army from its own lands is what started the Mexican police action. His commanders started something that cost them their lives, because they didn't wait.<br />
Jackson was one angry President - the incompetence of those he trusted. He couldn't intervene in the rebellious action. He had to approach the whole situation as a neutral party. He was adamant he wouldn't break the Mexican American Treaty. Old Hickory needed time to study and craft a good battle plan to defeat Santa Anna, but not as President but a rebel citizen. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-54483106618345973312016-02-14T11:37:00.002-05:002016-02-14T11:37:41.211-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -39 President Andrew Jackson had a history of "paying it forward" during his presidency. He felt it was his responsibility to make sure the Indians were paid in 1838. It was weighing on his mind and after they signed the Treaty of 1836 he wanted to make sure they were paid in gold and silver rather than paper currency they never understood the value of.<br />
He also knew the government Treasury was empty and he wouldn't let the Treasury borrow on credit. He maintained the government in the worst moment like everyone else needed to learn to budget and he told Congress to get busy and prioritize. They had a deadline to meet, but Jackson himself decided he wouldn't let the government default on payment to Indians. For now the government had no gold or silver of its own - just worthless paper currency, but the banks wanted nothing to do with his specie circular and rescinded it on their own causing greater hardship.<br />
Flash! Let's time travel - transport to 1862.<br />
As onlookers we stand in the crowd of Indians as Chief Cobmoosa stands on the threshold of his new government built log home. Gathered together outside the doorway his people stood in Elbridge in Oceana County, Michigan, waiting for Cobmoosa to answer questions to his identity as the "Last Ottawa Indian Chief of the Grand River Valley." <br />
Cobmoosa was not an Ottawa Indian - he was Potawatomi, the Sub-chief of Noonday under the Treaty of 1821. He did not become an Ottawa Chief until the death of his father-in-law Chief Wobwindigo who passed his command before death after the Treaty of 1836 was signed.<br />
The weary old Indian that time had neglected took off his rawhide poke (small bag with hide string), He poured the contents into his hand for guests to see. The gold coins had raised lettering marked, "Treaty of 1836" or "1836."<br />
This is what Jackson had Italian and Spanish minters inscribe on his coins. He felt he owed a debt of gratitude to prominent Chief Cobmoosa, Wabasis and Jean Boshaw of the Ada bands. All were educated half breeds born of from French Canadian fathers. Wabasis and Boshaw signed no treaties, but Cobmoosa did as an Ottawa for the Treaty of 1855 and was the last Ottawa Chief of the Grand River Valley.<br />
Jackson ordered these gold coins prior to issuing his Specie Circular order to financial institutions on July 11, 1836. These specially minted coins weren't available until Spring 1838 for Indian payment. Residual gold and silver coins trickled into the monetary State banks and Treasury in late 1836.<br />
Jackson was always thinking about how rotten people were who cheated the Indians and let them barter for goods based on yearly credit up to $1000.00. This is what got them into trouble and Jackson thought up the specie payment policy at a time when America was falling into a severe depression. Actually it was a world-wide depression with Europe suffering the worst.<br />
He saved America by thinking outside the box - beyond his years. He wanted what was best for America. In hindsight he was considered the smartest President and used his citizenship as an individual and put others first.<br />
Old Hickory was destined to help America again, not as President but as Citizen Andrew Jackson to the rescue of Texans. With the initial signing of the Treaty of 1836 just weeks away for Native American lands (March 28, 1836) north of the Grand River to the Straits of Mackinaw Jackson was anticipating rebel Indians were stirring up trouble. He received a military dispatch on his desk. Instead of opening the letter he let it lay and... (continued) Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-12799520926098951442016-02-14T10:09:00.001-05:002016-02-14T10:09:32.268-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -38<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;">President Andrew Jackson led an interesting life, too, up until he was elected President 1829-1837. He was one of a special breed that really has never been duplicated in public office. Over his life he surrounded himself with family, friends and people he dealt with since his early years. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> He had been in active military service for 40 years from the beginning of the American Revolutionary War thru the War of 1812-1818 and won his battles. He was fearless and planned military operations far in advance of his years. His friends helped him win his first election as President in 1828 and reelected in 1832.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> To thank them for their vote of confidence he put 2000 of his closest supporters in public office. These he trusted for awhile, but when money is concerned he knew human nature sometimes changes with the times. Those in authority without the knowledge of President Jackson turned greedy in the heyday of land speculations and joined the ranks as speculators to pad their own pockets. Most overspent their savings and bought wild and free treaty lands on credit borrowing at 31% + which later became their downfall when income owed didn't outweigh debt payments.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Jackson replaced quite a few officials at the start of his second term. Over the years as the Panic of 1836 swept over America they drowned in their own credit fiasco they helped create. Many lost all they gained and bankruptcy followed.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Andrew Jackson Jr. (President's son) despite his father's warnings not to get involved in land speculation did the opposite. He lived the high life with friends and investors then when the financial bubble burst he lost nearly everything and begged for help from his father to bail him out. As any loving father would do for any of his children the President paid off young Andrew's debts before he left office in 1837.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> For seven grueling years the President (a.k.a. Old Hickory) managed to reduce America's national debt to a zero balance. Jackson had become the only President to clear away all of Washington's national debts since the early days of George Washington. At one time he thought that George Washington should have been impeached for circumventing by executive privilege the Constitution of the United States he helped draft. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> President Jackson as citizen Andrew Jackson was quite wealthy in 1835. He saved his money and didn't buy on credit. He paid his bills monthly with cash, but in 1835 he did something spectacular for America. With his own bankrolled savings he purchased special minted gold and silver coins from Italy and Spain. He used them for Indian annuity payments in the Spring of 1838 to Michigan's "People of Three Fires" of the Grand River Valley according to the Treaty of 1836 they signed. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Only the Chief's were paid with gold coins. He paid the rest in silver and as the Indian's traded and bartered for goods the money spent found its way into the financial banks. Jackson paid the Indians forward out of his own personal accounts. (continued)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span>Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-77172124124214677262015-12-03T08:32:00.000-05:002015-12-03T08:32:01.711-05:00The Legend of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. 37 The 24th Congress under Andrew Jackson's presidency was responsible for all the Indian war parties till nearly the end of the 19th century. Washington got caught lying and tried to cover up its own shortcomings by altering the original wording on the Treaty of 1836 document. <br />
Here the Indians were being scripted and taught the Holy Bible since 1579 not just Catholic and Baptists between 1818-1836. Those in Congress 1835 read the same passages about "Thou shalt not lie, Thou shalt not steal and sinned against God to save there own skins and dupe the Indians.<br />
The Jesuits had been preaching to the Indians since 1579 in the Grand River valley - that is why so many gold crucifixes with diamond inlays were found beneath the streets of Grand Rapids and in the vicinity of the Norton Indian Mounds. Another Indian legend of the Ottawa and Chippewas residing in Michigan's Grand River Valley after the Treaty of 1836 was signed starts in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona in 1847. The trail leads into Michigan towards the Ottawa and Chippewas "Gateway to Heaven." This legend concerns the disappearance of a 900-lb gold cross from the Dutchman's Mine worth $17.3 million at today's rate of exchange. That's about the time gold was discovered at Ft. Sumpter in California in 1847.<br />
In essence, Congress created nightmare Indian scenarios that took more than seventy-five years of warring heartaches whether red, white or black to end and all because Congress spoke with forked tongue associated with as snakes and lizards. They proved religion didn't matter, but greedy men speak the same language when dollar signs are seen and they want to get it no matter who gets hurt.<br />
Nearly all of us at some point in our life become like teabags. We really aren't worth much until we've been rinsed through some hot water. Sometimes we learn more from failures than successes of naturally being right, but through failure once or twice and never a third time. <br />
Treasure hunters like those who search for the Lost Dutchman Mine seem to disappear the second time by accident and third by design of unscrupulous others seeking to defraud others. The Jesuits priests had been mining gold, too, from the Old Dutchman Mine thru five King Philips and others leading up to the Peralta massacre at a time when King Philip was getting disgusted with their lies and stealing. The priests got greedy and were shortchanging the King and got caught and so he ordered all Jesuits out of Arizona and New Mexico about 1847 under President James Polks administration.<br />
Settlers were rushing across North America seeking fortunes in gold and silver and it didn't matter where they went or who owned the land and they began killing Indians and vice versa to get it. Where money was so was the greed of others who didn't want to work to get it, but who lied, cheated and stole the livelihood of others. The 24th Congress broke the bottle of right and wrong (like President Clinton and Hillary), but when Jackson was just about to leave office in 1837 the misgivings of his administration he had witnessed what his mother was trying to teach him in his youth. Be careful when dealing with others - don't fall into their traps to get rich at the expense of others. <br />
President Jackson realized America was in a free fall into a financial abyss. He reckoned if he didn't get a handle on land speculators, crooked bankers and the abuses of money (cash) borrowed on credit at 30% and higher premium interest payments the poorest citizens unwittingly were going to assume the largest financial disaster that would affect them personally for years. Jackson knew what was right or wrong with the way Americans were borrowing against their future. Many time he remembered how his mother was always trying to instill religion in his life, but in his youth he had swallowed a wisdom pill one night and when he woke up he wouldn't listen and became a rebel.<br />
Along the way life changes everyone, you too. We all morph into those things we didn't want to hear or become when younger by the wisdom of the aged. It wasn't until Jackson became president did he realize that the things of his youth were trivial as compared to all the matters on his plate as President to deal with for eight long grueling years. Don't spend what you don't have or can't afford. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-1366954660480089302015-11-23T10:52:00.001-05:002015-11-23T10:52:19.018-05:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. - 36 To really understand Cobmoosa you must see the whole picture of the times under which he lived. An older historian once impressed upon me - don't study the man, but study the people, known or unknown about his life and times. They will provide you with insights to be shared with others.<br />
It has taken me five years of research to write about Cobmoosa and under what conditions he made his mark on Indian life and that of others. Recently while researching his travels I came across an interesting tale about how the Indians of Cobmoosa's villages were invited to the second Fourth of July 1837 celebrations at Ionia, Michigan. <br />
Samuel Dexter, Alfred Cornell Jr., and Sanford Yeomans engaged the services of Ezekiel Welch to set up a dinner for fifty area couples and build a 100 foot long table. With assistance from Welch's wife she baked a dinner consisting of roast beef, roast pigs and all the fixings. She prepared the meal for one hundred settlers, but only 80 arrived and since there were many leftovers the master of ceremonies decided not to let it go to waste. He extended an invitation to local Indians who were walking about to fill up. It was said the hungry redskins attacked the tables with invigorated and voracious appetites and ate everything so it appeared no food was left on the tables. Picked clean as if the food never existed. The only local Indians were those of Cobmoosa's village and there was a shortage of food supplies as small pox waned. Cobmoosa was off teaching the youngest surviving Indians how to hunt and fish in the upper Flat River area and bring food back to his people.<br />
Why do I tell you this now - because it was what happened for the better, the bringing together of three different cultures (black, red and white). They all feasted together as one civilized unit, but even back then 10 couples decided not to partake and ignored their pledges to take part and left - that was why so much food was left on the tables. Doesn't matter what color of skin when you might be starving. Don't waste food - someone or something might benefit from malnutrition.<br />
But something more spectacular happened. I stumbled upon something I had been researching since 1985 in "Search for Secrets of a Sunken Cannon." Previously in this blog I mentioned that President Andrew Jackson received letters from missionaries in Grand Rapids telling him that war drums were beating louder each night by renegade Indians hoping to stop negotiations in the winter of 1835-36. <br />
Jackson dispatched an army detachment hauling two 4-pound cannons. While crossing the Grand River on river ice east of Portland, the two cannons broke thru thin ice. Only one cannon was recovered. Unknown was the risen cannon's destination - but both disappeared. Destination unknown until...<br />
I stumbled upon a different 1837 Independence Day celebration. At Lyons east of Ionia, they had a "bowery" dance (Dutch), and of course, speeches, cannon-firing and many more festivities. In 1836, the first military cannons entered the interior of Michigan. <br />
Who brought the cannon? What conveyance got it there? When did it arrive? Where did it come from? How did it get there? Why was the cannon left at Lyons? This was the first recorded instance of a cannon in the Grand River watershed.<br />
Did the army detachment leave it at Lyons as a defense from marauding Indians prior to the initial signing of the Treaty of 1836, because of fear the Indian's in this locale might instigate another Indian War. Chief Dayomac and Manuquod villages presumably had those who didn't want to sell their Indian land. <br />
Could it be these two cannons were destined for Washington Centre, a high-sounding name for what was to become known as Ionia in the near future? Remember these were 4-pound iron cannons. That was the largest of military cannons in the U.S. Army. Might these two cannons have been poured from the same casts as that of Sam Houston's twin-sister cannons going to Texas? Winter 1836.<br />
Next time I return to base course and I put the finishing touches on the legends of Chief Cobmoosa's treasure, but remember I take side-trips to reach conclusions and I've got another Indian legend pertaining to "Washington speaketh with forked tongue" intrigue - that of the treasure hunting Librarian. (continued)<br />
Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-60037268583502399812015-11-22T07:01:00.000-05:002015-11-22T07:01:02.483-05:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa and Pres. A.J. - 35 President Jackson had paid off the National debt in 1835. He had been studying the needs of the country and didn't like what his "kitchen cabinet" discovered. Too many speculators and too many citizens with little money to spare were borrowing money with incredible high credit interest. He realized that in time many of the poorer folks would lose their newly acquired lands. In fact his mother was always just scraping by when he was younger. Seemed like all were scrounging to make a living. When a person doesn't work they shouldn't expect to eat free. Starve a little to save and pay taxes.<br />
Through the eyes of President Jackson he removed government funds from the Bank of the United States and began his quest to put distance between the government and business. As I said previously the<i> specie circular</i> order had been in the planning works three years into his administration (1832). After watching for years how the Indians were paid for their lands he thought he had a plan on how to pay them more favorably and the specie circular was the answer. He had seen enough abuses perpetrated on uneducated Indians by Fur Traders, Indian Traders and shyster business people who were always planning to defraud them of what little they got. <br />
Some would think the Indian's got a good deal, but the educated half-breeds got more than Chiefs. Others beneath them got only $1.25 per year while some Half-Breeds got thousands. The people often got swindled - incorrect change. He witnessed it first hand and missionaries reported it to him in yearly reports. <br />
Cobmoosa and Wabasis inherited most of money from their father-in-law Chief Wobwindigo who had two villages. He was the tribes caretaker during the early 1830's, but he didn't spend it on himself. He took care of others making sure that when the tribes were too sick with the Small Pox epidemics of 1831-1832 and 1836-37, he at the age of 69 led hunting parties up the Flat River basin for game. <br />
With many generations wiped out by disease Cobmoosa had to teach the younger generations that survived how to hunt but he would walk to the hunting grounds and never go by canoe. As far as I know history does not give information why Cobmoosa suffered from hydrophobia and the time line is unknown, but what is known it was from before he was 50. Remember he grew up in Noon Days "rapids" village was back beyond the Amway Hotel in Grand Rapids is today. A near drowning someplace changed his perspective on water travel. That's the center of the wild rapid days of the Grand River.<br />
This is what city fathers and sports professionals want to put back in place 2015. Return the river to its once wild rapids known for its deafening noise. The "Rapids" village was never on the shore. It was established not on present day Monroe, but as far back as Ottawa and Ionia. Any closer and the sounds of violent rushing water nobody could carry on a conversation. The noise level of rushing water will increase to the point where the people will be able to carry on conversations near the waterfront. Remember the original river bed up until the later 1840's fell 21 feet from Leonard to Fulton.<br />
I could never figure out why Noon Day's got a sculpture in Grand
Rapids, when it was truly Cobmoosa who should have gotten it. Noon Day
in history was a blood savage hungry Indian who killed many settlers
during his first 62 years of life. Cobmoosa was the Grand River valleys peacekeeper. He and Wabasis, along with Boshaw. tempered the fires of
would-be renegades like <i>Max Sauba</i> dubbed the <i>'little rattlesnake."</i> He worried the settlers.<br />
Cobmoosa inherited the title as Chief - The last Ottawa Indian Chief of the Grand & Flat River areas. Two villages at Ionia, but since he never signed the Treaty of 1836 he received lesser amounts, and when Wobwindigo died from smallpox complications after returning from Washington. Once Washington defaulted on the treaty the Indians remained in the river valley until Chief Cobmoosa signed the Treaty of 1855 that would force remaining Indians to northern reservations, but there were other Ottawa and Chippewa villages on the Grand River east of Ionia.<br />
As late as 1846 these villages were known as <i>"Mishshiminecon, Chiminecon and Michigmmeny Cahniny"</i> according to English interpretations "sour apple-tree and apple-orchard. These were permanent villages for many years on section 22 in Danby Township complete with Indian graveyard.. These Indian villages raised corn in summer and sugar making in the spring.<br />
According to Indian legend of the time it made no difference to a dead person how they got to the graveyard. The Indian philosophy was to tie her lifeless body to a pony tails with rope and drag her to her resting spot in the graveyard. In the 1840's these villages were civilized by a Methodist preacher and they dressed an lived like white folks and provided a sustainable living from agriculture, but there were those who didn't like organized labor and were the renegades - the panhandlers.<br />
The Chiefs of the villages were Dayomac and Manuquod. The prominent ones were <i>Onewanda, Nacquit, Negumwatin, Sisshebee, Nikkenashwa, Whiskemuk, Pashik, Squagun, Thargee</i> and <i>Chedskunk</i>. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-38699469864177439702015-11-18T07:48:00.002-05:002015-11-18T07:48:38.066-05:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. - 34 Until January 1837 Jackson's primary goal was to free America from the shackles of a monopoly by rich outsiders whose power he deemed too great and whose public morals were bankrupt. In his heart and mind he believed they were too loose for the country's good and that of the world. He started his plan not in 1837, but five years earlier in 1832, when he transferred deposits from the Bank of the United States to what he thought were sound State banks because they would be custodians of public revenue. He reasoned the crash of the markets would be less severe. During his second term in office he revisited how his plan was unfolding. Had he made the right decisions? He saw the country slipping into moral decay.<br />
There comes a time in the lives of many men when it is required to reassess your actions. In the back of our minds we begin to doubt our progress and what makes the biggest impact on how to correct problems. Life's problems change and we can't always see our perils. We can control our plan, but when additional problems creep into the mix we think 'could I have made better use of my time? We win together or the CEO accepts all blame. <br />
Jackson was no different - he just put in plans in motion and shoved off to lessen the collapse of the country. After all he examined he trusted his instincts and made the right decisions. Sometimes an altered plan change in course is a good thing.<br />
However he didn't know the depth of greedy speculators and shyster State bankers and the gamblers, lobbyists and speculators caused the final collapse of financial markets by fraudulent means by suspending Jackson's specie circular circumventing Jackson and President Van Buren's standing order.<br />
Bankers got caught up in the coils of speculation trying to rescue greedy men and protect other bankers. Dishonest bankers falsified their books to hide their own peril. Jackson repeatedly warned President Van Buren to examine all deposit banks and get the Treasury funds in places of safety.<br />
In March 1837 in President Martin Van Buren's first session of the 25th Congress his administration failed to accommodate businessmen with suspension of the specie circular. The passage of the Senate's Independent Treasury Bill died in the House of Representatives. <br />
Van Buren felt constant pressure by the lobbyists and speculators to suspend the specie circular. Even before Jackson left office he re-examined the depth of his perceptiveness. He re-examined plans by which the Treasury should care for its own funds issuing its own money based on the metal in its own vaults. The Treasury would issue its own money; gold and silver coinage for units less than 50 dollars and note currency above that unit.<br />
During Van Burens first litmus test about financial security his life was complicated when he had to stop his fellow Americans from New York intervening in the latest insurrection in Canada. This was just after September 1837 when the banks had just rescinded Jackson's specie circular starting the Panic of 1837 financial markets. In late 1837 a group of Canadians dissatisfied with the British government broke out in revolt and attempted to establish their own independence. The insurgents found much sympathy in New York citizens unknown to President Van Buren or the 25th Congress.<br />
The rebels resurrected an Army of 700 American men from the State of New York. They took up arms, seizing and fortifying the old Navy Island in the Niagara River. The loyalists in Canada attempted to recapture the island and failed, but they succeeded in burning the "Caroline," the supply ship of the New York army. Loyalists of the Crown set it ablaze, cut her moorings and the burning vessel drifted down the river and down the precipice of Niagara Falls.<br />
This action caused considerable excitement and the peaceful relations of the United States and Great Britain was strained again by an unauthorized war. The War of 1812-1818 prohibited either country from conducting military or naval operations on the Great Lakes and its connecting waters. The American army was acting without authorization from President Van Buren and that was illegal. <br />
President Van Buren then wrote a proclamation of neutrality to Great Britain; which forbid interference by American citizens to engage in the affairs of Canada. General Wool was sent to the Niagara frontier with sufficient force to quell the disturbance and punish the guilty. New York insurgents on Navy Island were obliged to surrender and order was restored. Van Buren didn't relish the excitement, but the skirmish did improve the economy of America. It was getting healthier and he had to once again get back into the business of separating the government from the business of Americans before the start of 1838. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-24545470180975162092015-11-17T23:14:00.002-05:002015-11-17T23:14:36.538-05:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. - 33 What were "petty banks?" These were state banks. That where Old Hickory put the surplus money thinking they would be safe within a government institution. Trouble is there seemed to be more criminals than honest bankers. <br />
The broker's office sold specie while supplies of gold and silver lasted, which usually was gone before noon or night each day. Night and noon boxes were seen passing from the land office to the broker's office and the specie used to buy land was used twice each day. Crooks within pocketed 20 cents on each dollar every day. Money was taken from the pockets of those who could least afford it.<br />
Those who bought land to make homesteads and farms often became disgusted and left without being refunded. Jackson wondered why they didn't storm the land and broker offices once they found out that criminal activity was afoot. Those who fell for the ruse did so out of respect for Old Hickory's presidency. They trusted Jackson' wisdom and theorized he knew what he was doing issuing the specie circular law. <br />
Capitalists and speculators not the same. They reasoned the President was out of touch with their slipshod philosophy. For those who felt jilted raiding the brokerage wasn't a safe exploit despite the speculators who swooped in taking the land and holding it from settlement or improvements for five to eight years. Some paid taxes upon the land while those much poorer let it be sold for taxes.<br />
The specie circulars shock waves caused the economy to shudder during March and April of 1837 during President Van Buren's earliest days in office. Jackson's foresight warned Van Buren not to rescind the specie circulation order, because many would try to overturn that ruling. It was tough for Van Buren to let the law continue, but the banks illegally suspended specie payment not the government. In doing so the mercantile businesses failed and the true 'Panic of 1837' took everyone by surprise. By September 1837 every avenue of trade suffered. During the last two months the failure rates for commerce in New York and New Orleans amounted to a 150 million dollar loss. The government was about to be defrauded out of millions of dollars.<br />
Only then did a committee of businessmen from New York, Nashville and New Orleans convene in Washington to request that President Martin Van Buren rescind Jackson's 'specie circular' and call a special session of Congress.<br />
Van Buren denied the request so he and Congress could have time to study all the pros and cons of Jackson's specie circular law, but within a short time he caved in to pressure demands of businessmen by the distress felt around the country. Jackson maintained he shouldn't have rescinded the order because the speculators were the greedy officials who didn't go through proper government policy to suspend specie payments. They instead tried to lay the blame on Jackson, but it was greedy bankers and speculators who caused the panic and Jackson was their scapegoat. Jackson in letters to Van Buren told him about twenty times not to give in to specie circular removal.<br />
When Congress reconvened in late September from summer recess several measures of relief were brought forward. A bill authorizing the issue Treasury Notes not to exceed 10 million dollars was passed as a temporary provision. It was brought before Congress as "The Independent Treasury Bill." <br />
Provisions stated that public funds of the Nation were to be kept on deposit in a treasury to be established for that special purpose. President Van Buren with special friends argued that all surplus monies of the country would drift into the Independent Treasury and lodge there as a means of checking against the speculative mania still present. Extensive speculations couldn't be carried on without an abundance of currency. <br />
Former President Andrew Jackson and current President Van Buren's contention was to separate the business of the United States from the general business of the country. With Jackson's issue of the specie circular he meant to help the country, but the shock waves were felt beyond its border - worldwide. <br />
China and Japan today are the speculators thriving in America today and eventually if it isn't from terrorists America's economy will collapse under the weight of its own debts. It continually borrows, but doesn't repay even a portion of what is spent. President Jackson as I said was the ONLY president to have a zero national debt and still have a cash surplus. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-50974602378971423162015-11-17T15:03:00.000-05:002015-11-17T15:05:19.306-05:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. - 32 During the Jackson years (1829-1837) credit extensions by traders and speculators (Europeans, too) to the public and Indians getting annuity payments were ripe with fraud. Jackson sensed that soon every aspect of business would suffer. Inflation was out of control. The business of America was growing by leaps and bounds - the land boom was operating at fever pitch and Jackson would use his 'specie circular' to slow down the criminal activity, which was to strike the public without warning.<br />
Extensive tracts of the most valuable Indian lands were soon being thrown into the market. The officers of speculators and bankers were so devoid of all sense of honor as to practice by daylight the most barefaced lies and frauds against poor men who could least afford it. Trusted bank and government officials joined the ranks as speculators showering others with criminal favoritism. Those who were wealthy would bribe others to secure the greatest numbers of acreage to hold wild and free.<br />
President Jackson sensed economic danger ahead and then ordered the issue of his "specie circular," which meant that all Federal lands (Indian or American) must be purchased in gold and silver. Fraudulent land deals were running rampant with worthless western currency and Jackson's newly ordered specie circular law shocked the speculators and economy - downturn. The criminally negligent really started the Panic of 1836-37. This is what Jackson attempted to do - break the fraud.<br />
The specie circular law came into force when greedy officials were swindling honest purchasers in detail and bulk. Methods of fraud were extensive, but this new law required that each parcel of land be offered first at auction. Bids were required to be in writing and placed in a box previous to the day of sale, but Jackson was unaware of the extent of dishonest businessmen who would rule the day.<br />
When the day of final decision arrived and the boxes were opened all bids were missing except the one put in by bribery to secure the largest tracts of land. Under rules of engagement by Jackson's specie law only gold and silver or the bills of a few favored petty banks were received for lands. The tender for the land caught the poorest of men unprepared who were unaware of specie circular demands. They couldn't by the land on credit, however, some greedy officials exchanged cash from credit at 30% interest, which was way beyond the livable means of repayment.<br />
Those living on borrowed cash from credit were operating beyond the livable means of repayment and those who did so lost it to forfeiture and inability to pay taxes. Jackson was unaware of the depth of greed gripping the country. He knew it was bad, but wasn't expecting a financial panic.<br />
A broker's office was usually across the street from the land office and here is where the fleecing of poorer men began. People said it was good to have a brokerage nearby for gold and silver, which was in high demand and paying a 10% premium.<br />
Yes, gold in America was in short supply. Gold wasn't discovered in California until 1847 so where did Jackson get gold and silver coinage? Well within two years of the Treaty of 1836 Jackson had established petty banks.<br />
Jackson before 1836 paid off the National Debt - no other President in America's history has ever done it - the debt under Pres. Obama went from $9 trillion to 18.5 Trillion dollars from 2009-2015. Will the war on terror break America?<br />
When the Treaty of 1836 was signed, the National Debt had a zero balance and the U.S. Treasury had a $40 million dollar surplus.<br />
Jackson had invested 36 million dollars into a handful of his newly established "petty banks" and another four million dollars was used to purchase specially minted gold and silver coinage from Spain and Italy. He had it in reserve for distribution to Indians for land payment prior in the spring of 1838 after the introduction of his specie circular law. As land speculation boomed so did hundreds of new banks operating on fraud. (continued)<br />
Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-64268246982637693602015-11-16T23:31:00.001-05:002015-11-16T23:31:28.557-05:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -31 Cobmoosa and Wabasis were son-in-laws of Chief Wobwindigo. Both married the chiefs daughters and neither were chiefs until the death of Wobwindigo several months after the formal signing of the 1836 treaty. Neither signed this treaty. Wabasis became Chief of his own clan at his banishment village at Wabasis Lake in 1838 and Cobmoosa became the last Ottawa Chief of the Grand and Flat River tribes upon Wobwindigo's death in summer 1836. <br />
Wobwindigo's last remaining son didn't want the responsibility for keeping together the remaining chiefs two villages fearing the small pox epidemic that was out of control prior to the signing of the treaty. He took off for Gull Prairie and Cobmoosa stepped into Wobwindigo's moccasins and took command of the surviving people. He had a caring heart for Wobwindigo's people.<br />
Cobmoosa like Wabasis were educated half-breeds. They caught Washington in the big lie. Washington had spoken, but this caused many Indian chiefs to say "Washington speaketh with forked tongue." These five words spread across the Mississippi River, the prairies and mountains like wild fire warning all other tribes of Washington's indiscretions and the misdeeds of scoundrels that lie, cheat and attempt to steal opposite their teachings of the Holy Bible. <br />
Congress had wrote in additional language to favor themselves at the Indians expense. It would take another 24 years (1860) more to force remaining Indians from the Grand and Flat River area to reservations. Cobmoosa was the last remaining Ottawa Chief and he did sign the Treaty of 1855. He was Chief of the Ottawas from 1836-1866 by the death of his father-in-law Wobwindigo. <br />
Although Cobmoosa signed the Treaty of 1855 it wasn't realized until about 125 years later (future) the Federal government failed to acquire Michigan's natural resources. It made no provisions for the earliest mistakes. This was forgotten by the 24th Congress and omitted by former President Andrew Jackson and President Martin Van Buren's administrations, which culminated in Indian casinos today. Michigan has two conservation law organizations for fisheries - Indian and American. Van Buren tried to save face for the blunders of his administration, but at least he admitted to Indian injustice.<br />
There was much public jubilation once the Treaty of 1836 was signed, but the march of time was going to prove disastrous for the booming economy during Jackson's last year in office. He had seen the pain brought against Indians thru invasion and years of fraud. To slow down speculation fever he issued his <i>"specie circular"</i> on July 11, 1836. Whether Indian or American any sales for land purchased from Indians had to be paid for in gold and silver coinage to pay debts under $50.00. The economy was slowing and within the next several months a great depression caused widespread panic and the financial end did collapse under its own weight. Many speculators lost their entire life savings and not even the wealthiest were immune to the economic disasters.<br />
President Jackson's own personal accounts suffered, too. Fact is he told his young son Andrew not to get land speculation fever, but the young man fell into bad company and he did just as President Jackson feared. The president bailed him out of his financial ruin. Drought, the worst in Tennessee history put Jackson's own 1000 acre wheat field on the extinction list and put his Hermitage in dire straights of repair. The value of qualified slaves dropped from $1,500 dollars to 500 per head. The southern states were sorely disgruntled with Jackson's <i>specie circular</i>. He used it not to break the people, but to save them from worst financial ruin. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-31383114959675786002015-11-13T16:36:00.001-05:002015-11-13T16:43:12.733-05:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -30 During President Jackson's administration the American economy had gained substantial financial footing, but he feared the speculative spending would in the near future cause chaos in financial markets. Speculators, many of whom were from Europe, were too willing to assume great risks in purchasing power and lobbyists were pressuring Washington to open land offices in advance of opening large tracts of wild land for purchase.<br />
The Federal government couldn't sell Indian lands until they were surveyed and advancing on these wild lands was prohibited until treaties were signed for lands north of the Grand River (western Michigan to the Straits of Mackinaw).<br />
Two years before the Treaty (1834) was signed an Indian named Negake engaged a government surveyor trespassing. The surveyor claimed he accidentally strayed across the Grand River, but an enraged renegade Indian named Negake confronted him and in a fight killed the surveyor. The surveyor had strict orders not to cross the Grand River. The government could not intervene. <br />
This confrontation is what fired up the renegades demanding that the Chiefs act against government intrusion, which is why the dark night sky north of Kent (Grand Rapids) glowed brighter each night and settlers were getting worried by the sounds of louder drumming. This is exactly what Jackson feared would happen before the treaty was signed.<br />
Jackson's missionaries were busily teaching the Indians about religion (Baptist or Catholic) and how to live as civilized people under the Ten Commandments, but one indiscretion of a American bad apples could bring treaty negotiations to a standstill. This would enrage both sides and Jackson didn't want bloodshed between either party.<br />
Jackson didn't want another Indian war, but on the same token he wanted to prepare the Indians for a wave of future settlers seeking a better life - that's if they had the money to purchase wild lands. Jackson wanted to make sure the Indians during his years were paid fairly and he saw the abuses in how they were fraudulently paid at a time when the business of the country was showing signs of increasing too fast for sustainability.<br />
Ever increasing speculation fever put strain on Congress to open the land offices soon. Speculators were rushing to get the upper hand at wild land auctions. The public was getting anxious and rejoiced over the prospects of purchasing land within the new treaty area and so the initial treaty was signed in Washington on March 28, 1836 and the formal signing (original) May 28, 1836 was signed by the "People of Three Fires" for lands north of the Grand River. The formal signing was doomed for failure and broken by Congress when Jackson, while reading the signed treaty discovered that Congress (responsibility) gave no timeline for Indian removal. The legislature also failed to include in the treaty specifics; reservations and purchase of Indian natural resources.<br />
President Jackson was furious. He spent much time educating and bringing religion to the forefront with treaty Indians. Capitalists and speculators wanted this land on the auction block soon so he told Congressmen they had to fix the mounting problems before bidding could start. Congress didn't want to admit they made a huge treaty error so they got the bright idea to fraudulently tamper, change and add removal date and reservation language after the formal treaty was signed after May 28, 1836.<br />
Congress didn't want the public to know they were responsible for creating a disastrous mess. The Twenty-Fourth Congress (1835-37) had manipulated, changed and added wording to the original document signed by the Indian Chiefs. The government produced proof for Indian removal, but Congress forgot the Grand and Flat River tribes were indoctrinated with an education and religion. Indian Chiefs that signed the initial and formal treaty were given the exact duplicate, which didn't match the (forged) documents signed in Washington.<br />
Educated Indian Chief's like Cobmoosa and Wabasis caught Washington in a "lie" and the Chiefs pointed out that nowhere in the initial and formal treaty signatures did it give date of removal (1841) to three reservations; Pentwater, Mt. Pleasant or Traverse City. In futuristic language Congress didn't want to admit to the public and speculators they tried to pull a Crazy Ivan (Russian) on the Indians and got caught in their own lie. (continued) Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-52515952077673746082015-10-19T09:00:00.001-04:002015-10-19T09:00:24.092-04:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. - 29 Cobmoosa's stature, demeanor and manner of his walking abilities gave him his name, "The Great Grand Walker." The Indians on the Pentwater Reservation waited patiently for the aged Cobmoosa to return. His people of long ago led him personally to his knew log cabin built for the "Last Ottawa Chief of the Grand and Flat River valleys."<br />
On the day of arrival he stood at the cabin's threshold, but before he could go inside he had to provide his proof to his claim as Cobmoosa and President Andrew Jackson provided him with the key. Standing outside the cabin door he greeted old friends and after a short visitation the day was at hand and he pulled out of his clothing a rawhide poke with drawstrings. He spread the rawhide strings and poured out the contents in his hand to prove he indeed was Cobmoosa in the flesh and out tumbled proof positive he was Cobmoosa. In his hands were minted coins dated 1836... but coins with a special inscription, but Cobmoosa didn't receive payment until two years after the Treaty of Washington - 1836 was signed.<br />
1836-1837 was a turbulent time in America. It was a time of great prosperity under President Jackson's administration. For the first and only time Jackson had entirely liquidated the National Debt and the U.S. Treasury had accumulated a surplus of 40 million dollars. By an Act of Congress the vast sum was distributed to "Petty Banks" among several states. With the abundance of money speculations of all sorts grew and it affected Indian life, too. Land speculations went wild with the openings of new Federal lands purchased from the Indians.<br />
Credit for goods had been around for several years and from Jackson's spies within the tribes he knew the credit bartering for goods and services was fleecing the Indians, because they knew little nor understood if they were getting a good deal. Unscrupulous traders were fleecing them of their annuity payments. And so the government's policy in dealing with the Indian's under the Jackson administration was to buy them out not with paper currency, but gold and silver coinage. Jackson had the foresight to understand that prior to 1836 and the signing of the latest treaties that the credit system had invaded every aspect of business. Indians were disgruntled - so too many speculators whose fortunes would fall. <br />
It was the government and the peoples desire to expand westward into territories occupied by Indian tribes and so President Jackson lumped the desires of his people with Indian payments for land. The petty banks thrived from a few in 1836 to more than 700 before the close of 1837. The Indians perceived that payment would begin shortly after signing treaties, but it wasn't until 1838 and during that time the Indians were given credit for goods and supplies - the interest on such monies owed was 30%. This is what increased the fraud against the Indians or anyone dickering without money. Vast issues of irredeemable paper currency stimulated the speculative spirit with increased the opportunities of fraud.<br />
The bills of these unsound banks were receivable at land offices; and settlers and speculators made a mad rush to secure the public lands while the money was plentiful. In receiving such an unsound currency in exchange for the national domain the government was more likely to be defrauded out of millions. So six weeks after the Treaty of 1836 was signed President Jackson issued a species order called the <i>'Specie Circular',</i> by which all land agents were directed to receive nothing, but coin in payment for public and Indian lands. Jackson's circular order did not affect his presidency so much as that of President Van Buren's administration in 1837. <br />
In the meantime the interests of the government had been secured through Jackson's vigilance.<br />
It is necessary for you to understand all the ramifications of Jackson's specie circular and then I will reveal what the coins in Cobmoosa's hands were to provide positive proof what Chiefs were paid for Indian lands. (continued).<br />
Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-79677854457414489492015-10-07T10:42:00.000-04:002015-10-07T10:42:40.300-04:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -28 The Ottawas that left the Ionia, Michigan area in 1858 and had been waiting for Chief Cobmoosa to arrive at the Pentwater Reservation before the end of 1860. Since he didn't arrive they feared he may have died along the way, but such was not the case. He pushed himself to exhaustion and had to stop his labored journey to regain his strength. The brutal winds and blinding snowstorms got the best of him, but after a little rest he trudged onward towards Grand Haven.<br />
Strange as it might seem word of his arrival that year would be short lived at the reservation. Indians on the reservation heard reports about his arrival at Grand Haven. Those who knew Cobmoosa feared he might try walking to the Reservation, but some, too, knew his fear of water and hoped he would regain his courage and step onto a steamer and forget the perilous walk. His people were waiting patiently for him to arrive in the Spring of 1861 and once the new shipping season commenced he hoped to board an upward bound Lake Michigan steamer. From where he would originate was unknown. What they did know was that he would arrive by foot on his own accord.<br />
Someone in Grand Haven gave the aged Chief Cobmoosa shelter at the docks in Grand Haven during the winter of 1861-62. It was during that time he began to hear rumors that Washington was preparing for war shortly. The docks were abuzz with talk about a Civil War - the northern states against the southern states. Cobmoosa for the first time in his Indian life was really alone and was looking forward to greeting old friends at the reservation when he was told that on April 12, 1861 the attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina started the American Civil War. <br />
Within the first week hundreds, then thousands of volunteers for military duty appeared at the docks. Because of shipping security for men, military provisions for distant military operations up and down the lakes his chances for booking passage up the lake had stalled. Men from all walks of life some that Cobmoosa recognized were the newest volunteer enlistees for military training in the Union Army and Navy. <br />
Cobmoosa watched and listened intently as they talked about how the war would go or not. Cobmoosa was informed that because of the onslaught of the Civil War supplies he might have to spend the entire year in Grand Haven. The old Indian began to feel his true age and exercised to keep his aged muscle in check so when time arrived he would appear on foot and reclaim his legendary title as the "Last Ottawa Chief of the Grand River Valley. Alas, the amount of military provisions and men going south necessitated that he remain in Grand Haven. During the spring, summer and fall Cobmoosa who although was known as a man of "respect and courage" found it would take him that amount of time before he'd step onto a vessel. This was the man who wouldn't even sit in a canoe or wade across a fast moving stream more than knee deep let alone take a steamer.<br />
Finally in the Spring of 1862, the buzz on Lake Michigan had tempered and the government wishing to get Cobmoosa (aged 94) on the reservation paid for his passage to Pentwater and he arrived four years after the flotilla left the Grand River Basin in 1858. Upon landing in Pentwater those who remembered him waited patiently to great the old Chief and he undertook the last leg of his journey to the Indian Reservation in Elbridge Township (Oceana County) just east/southeast of Hart, Michigan. He was nearly the last of the oldest living chiefs of his generation.<br />
The government was so moved by his stamina and stature they quickly built him a new log house since the old fashioned wigwams of his life didn't last long. Wigwams were too cold and drafty for an old Indian of advanced age. Washington respected Cobmoosa and felt he deserved a warm log house as opposed to a cold wigwam built of bark and cattail thatched roof. Washington remembered him as the Grand River valley "peacekeeper." (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-22581984546648753832015-09-28T09:36:00.000-04:002015-09-28T09:36:01.966-04:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -27 Cobmoosa never wore the attire of white men as an Indian. Whenever he met someone and in talking he said " he would stay Indian and not be anything but Indian. He had fought against offered clothing from friends and relatives for 92 years, but he didn't know that is own destiny would be reshaped soon after he was seen arriving in Grand Rapids. People on the streets couldn't believe the old shuffling Indian Chief was still alive and walking on Division Street - walking in the biting cold and sleet in such ragged clothing befitting a hermit or homeless person.<br />
"Time and death had neglected" Cobmoosa. The sight of Grand Rapids left him sad. Gone were the sights and silence of the "rapids" village. Wooden buildings replaced the natural environment. The hustle and bustle of a booming lumber town was too much for him to accept. Nothing of his youth remained.<br />
Shuffling through town, the cold winds, rain and sleet beat against his face. He hurried along hoping he wouldn't be recognized. He feared being arrested by government lawmen, but they greeted the old Indian Chief with respect. They never harassed or intimidated him. December was not the time of year to cross the Grand River in the shallows, but instead did walk across a bridge. Just before he started westward, the old hunched over man greeted an old friend with a firm handshake. Cobmoosa turned his face away from the cold sleet and the man took pity on his friend that "death had neglected."<br />
Suddenly his friend unbuttoned his winter coat and placed it around and over Cobmoosa's shoulder and helped him slip his arms into the sleeves. He for the first time in his long life didn't refuse the white man's clothing. He accepted the coat for he needed warmth to conclude his journey to Grand Haven. Without the white man's clothing old Cobmoosa would freeze to death somewhere along the trail. Just because he accepted the coat doesn't mean he isn't Indian, but he was wise enough to accept the coat knowing without it he would surely die along the trail.<br />
Imagine visiting (time traveling 150 year future) your doctor for your dwindling health at 92 years old says you must start walking and exercising more, because frankly you are obese and gravity has settled your girth. In a nutshell do you have the stamina and ability to walk from the Ionia area via Grand Rapids to Grand Haven, then northward to Pentwater. That's an overland trek of more than 130 miles. Would you ever attempt this at 70 years of age. You must walk like Cobmoosa in old clothes - not Sunday or daily clothing of the 21st century. You must look like the homeless street people you see living in paperboard boxes beneath bridge overhangs. Could you survive?<br />
Cobmoosa was a man of courage, but he still feared he might get arrested for not leaving his homeland soon enough. After all when he encountered his friend he still had a 35 mile walk to Grand Haven. What an odd scene to see a lone bent over gray-haired Indian moving 'turtle' slow in early December. <br />
He was spotted two weeks later near Christmas stumbling in wagon ruts near the Crockery Creek Crossing southwest of Ravenna. Many settlers in wagons tried to give him a lift, but he refused and went on his way. Eyewitness accounts say as they approached he disappeared into the brush when remembering an old familiar trail. He arrived in Grand Haven in early winter. Eyewitness sightings place him in Grand Haven by the end of 1860. What an arduous task when 92 years old. Only half of his journey was completed. (continued)Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-5751218468096735022015-09-26T11:25:00.004-04:002015-09-26T11:25:55.533-04:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. - 26 Every three years, the Ottawa Indians would gather together to celebrate the "Feast of The Dead," which happened on Nov. 2nd. Cobmoosa took it upon himself being the last Ottawa Indian Chief to honor the dearly departed. The day long ceremony was arduous for him, but he mostly just sang and provided food for himself. At age 92 time had passed him by for athletic events, dancing and offering a feast, but at least he remembered his forefathers, family and friends and honored their spirits one last time. <br />
Usually at the conclusion of the feast of the dead, the bones of those who died three years past were buried in a common grave, which 'united the spirits of the dead' with 'joining the friendships of the living.' Now you understand why it is that with all the housing developments being built around you excavators don't unearth departed Indians.<br />
The Yanonomi Indians of Brazil (1995) still cremate their dead to this day. These cremation Indians are considered to be the richest in the world and yet at the turn of this century they do not know the value of money and modern man is prohibited from entering their tribal land. They are protected by the Brazilian government and military forces. They cremate the dead and gather the ashes. They mix the ashes with flour and bake and break bread at a similar 'spirit of the dead'. The spirit of the dead then lives within the living as they journey through life. Hard to fathom the 'Spirit of The Dead' honors the dead in the 21st century. Before the flotilla of Indians left the Grand and Flat River country Cobmoosa's goal was to celebrate the Feast of The Dead in their absence. This he accomplished.<br />
Put yourself in Cobmoosa's life as a ghost shadow and walk beside him in old moccasins and ratty Indian attire in 92-year old feet. The cold air challenged his nose and he knew Winter was not far off. His bones ached and he trudged to graves of relatives and friends. Sitting besides their graves he celebrates them in song chanting old familiar tunes of long ago for the last time in 1860. Being 92 year old he didn't do much dancing because of a body that death had neglected. He was about to undertake the pilgrimage of his life to the Pentwater Reservation just east of Hart, Michigan in Oceana County (Elbridge Township). Still for his ancient age he was a skillful athlete and hunter and carried food and provisions.<br />
The woodland forests were barren of leaves, the wind howled through the stark gray woods, the ground strewn with many colorful leaves that rustled in frosty morning breezes. Each morning the air was colder, the skies darker and Cobmoosa knew it was time to leave. His bones felt the cold winds of change as dense fog hovered over the Grand River, the sun barely seen before noon. He was leaving the land of his forefathers. Unknown was his route to Grand Rapids or where he crossed the Grand River. He could have crossed at Ada or Plainfield (bridges).<br />
Five years earlier (1855) when he signed the treaty of 1855 he was 87 years old and many saw him yet as a majestic in appearance meaning he was a man with a distinctive and identifying posture who walked and talked Indian. He was offered settler attire many times but refused saying "he would stay Indian and not be anything but Indian. He was a man of "mark or mein" (majestic). <br />
At 92 (1860) his wrinkled facial expressions showed he was still comfortable in his old Indian skin for now he was hunchbacked and walked forward with deliberate purpose so he would stumble and fall. The old Indian still could travel great distances more so than settlers. He was blessed with knowledge and still took charge of his own life. He spoke his mind to any man he met and would listen to his ramblings and it wouldn't fail him once the Civil War began.<br />
Cobmoosa couldn't believe his eyes wandering into Grand Rapids. Gone were the sights and silence of his youth. He couldn't find his birthplace - it was all buildings at the "rapids village" beside the Grand River. His birthplace in 1768 didn't exist at the rapids. His world ceased to exist, but at least he had his mind's eye memory of those he cherished. His old eyes had seen the drastic changes of settler civilization. (continued)<br />
Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-49260557729872088342015-09-22T06:26:00.001-04:002015-09-22T06:26:17.928-04:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. -25 In 1858 it was quite the scene to witness the departure of 800 Indians in 300 canoes packed with possessions down the Grand River to just about Grand Rapids. They landed just south of Leonard and a little beyond the confluence of Coldbrook Creek and prepared to disembark and portage everything they owned about a half-mile around the Six Street Dam. Why so far?<br />
Grand Rapids had displaced many remnants of Noondays village where Cobmoosa was born in 1768. In the encampment in 1822 he stood at the "rapids" village and welcomed both Catholic and Baptist missionaries. No longer could canoes pass over and down the spillway - they'd submerge in the violent water. Indians had to portage around the new lock construction that were never completed for upriver steamboat traffic (from dam to Michigan Street) once the railroad arrived. The quarry hole was where my cousin Mitch Idema drowned in the 1980's. It was that deep stretch from the dam along the east wall where today the U.S. Post Office resides. I honor his memory, too.<br />
Noonday's village was wall to wall buildings that now shield Monroe from the noise of the rapids. In his day, it was not quiet. From Leonard to Fulton the original riverbed dropped 21 feet making it a violent and turbulent river. Not the best spot to arrive on shore in the middle of a raging river. Cobmoosa's phobia of water may have originated from the rapids - did he almost drown here or did he witness the drowning of family or friends. <br />
What the Indians found was no wilderness and now wooden buildings and commerce. Directly across the river the Iron Horse spewing lots of dark smoke and sparks chugged up the tracks for further construction of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Rail Road from Ft. Wayne, Indiana northward towards Cadillac (White Pine Trail). The RR was bringing up steel railroad tracks and ties for construction just north of Comstock Park. Nothing looked the same to the Indians. What they remembered was "gone-gone-gone."<br />
We would be no different if we were absent from our childhood home after 40 years? We've all seen the degradation, economic advancements and environmental changes to the landscapes of our youth after 15-20 years. <br />
Our cultures and traditions leave and return under good and bad moments in life. It might be disheartening to witness the changes in childhood or adult life. All the Indian villages north of the Grand River were vacant. This was the last time any settlers would be threatened by the presence of bad Indians, but such would not be in the case of Chief John Wabasis at his Wabasis Lake encampment. The renegades wouldn't permit him to leave.<br />
Cobmoosa was finally left alone for the last time when 87-90 years old. What could be possibly have left undone from 1858-late 1860? It's not what he couldn't do, but rather what he did do for his people left behind buried in cemeteries and Indian graves along the Grand River. He simply thought it was his responsibility to honor his ancestors and friends in graves and making sure that when new settlers arrived that they didn't desecrate their graves along the Grand and Flat Rivers.<br />
The mass migration of Indian ceased in late summer. The region was void of Indians - not all, the renegades near Greenville stayed behind to harass Wabasis and his family, but they never intentionally tried to harm Wabasis family. Gone were the glowing orange skies on dark nights. No more beating drums - only replaced with sounds of crickets, coyotes and wolves howling in distant forests.<br />
October's colorful leaves were beginning to fall. Morning frost left a nip in the air until a couple hours after glorious sunrises. Cobmoosa rose from his sleep to find another a morning sky azure blue with wisps of feathery white clouds barely moving. A warm autumn breeze caressed his face as he wandered along the riverbank hedging towards the ancient burial grounds. <br />
Showers of falling leaves to the forest floor made for difficult walking for a 90 year old man. The fragrances of fall tickled his nose, but the sun felt good on his face and the warmth in afternoon sun felt good on his aching body. He could hear the Manistee winds sighing thru pine needles, the whispers of winter announcing that snow would soon appear.<br />
Being old with age he probably sat down atop high hill to rest overlooking the river and smelled the fragrances of the river and ate an apple while resting. Water wherever found has a particular fragrance. The stronger breezes sent blizzards of red, orange and yellow leaves to the ground. The sounds of swirling leaves clicked together as the hardened Aspen leaves struck each other with the sounds similar to raindrops striking water. He had lived a long life a life that death had neglected. His time along the Grand River valley was short, but he promised President Pierce he would leave before 1860 closed. He would after he visited the graves of his ancestors and friends and celebrated for the last time the "Feast of The Dead.<br />
Feast of The Dead was a time of remembrance for all those Indians who passed away. Some reached for the happy hunting ground while those who were Christians at time of death were dead in Christ. Cobmoosa was at the graves of his ancestors. Many died during several small pox epidemics, but he would remain vigilant to protect the burial sites. That was his duty to the "People of Three Fires - Ottawa, Pottawatomie and Ojibway (Chippewa). (continued)<br />
Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524654322132164096.post-6059228105294912662015-09-21T00:38:00.001-04:002015-09-21T00:38:12.878-04:00Legends of Chief Cobmoosa & Pres. A.J. - 24 Cobmoosa despite being slowed by age took it upon himself to make sure no small skirmishes broke out between Indians or arriving settlers. He welcomed settlers, farmers, timber spectators, missionaries and priests with firm handshakes, the same as Chief John Wabasis - his foster son. Chief Wobwindigo was Wabasis' adopted son, but both Cobmoosa and Wabasis were half-breed Indians and eventually son-in-laws of Wobwindigo. Wabasis married a daughter named Cononama and Cobmoosa married three daughters simultaneously, that is, before becoming a Christian.<br />
Jean Boshaw of Chief Hazy Cloud village was Cobmoosa's go-between half-breed, too. He was fast to get to trouble spots. <br />
From 1836-1855 many Indians remained and took up farming until Washington decided it was time to settle the Treaty of 1836 for Indian displacement to reservations. Accordingly all Indians north of the Grand River were given five years to leave, but Cobmoosa wanted to make sure they left around 1858.<br />
Cobmoosa was 87 years old when he signed his name on the treaty, and yes, indeed he was known as the "Last Ottawa Chief of the Grand and Flat River bands." No longer could the Indians remain on their birthplace lands or wander as free spirit Ottawas or mixed breeds. The Indians didn't know what to expect as they traveled to Pentwater, Traverse or Mt. Pleasant reservations.<br />
Cobmoosa along with other Indians would meet several times at Indian council meeting to discuss departure of the main body and they all agreed it was time to make preparations for departure in the summer of 1858. Several hundred Indians gathered in Ionia and set off for Detroit to pick up their last annuity payments. When the men trickled back to Ionia they made hundreds of canoes for passage to Grand Haven then by steamers to Pentwater.<br />
One day the residents in the Ionia area were getting concerned with the large influx of Indians and were intimidated by the numbers swelling into town. Fearing an Indian uprising was beginning several residents in town began ringing the church bells that summoned townsmen back from the outside farms. Ringing church bells meant imminent danger and their families might be in jeopardy and rushed back to town to render aid, but such was not needed.<br />
When they returned they saw hundreds of Indians trickling into town and found the Indian encampment where the Ionia Free Fair is today getting larger as each day passed. The bonfires at night cast an orange glow over the Grand River Valley.<br />
Then one morning Cobmoosa ordered 300 canoes be put in the water and loaded with all the possessions of 800 Indians for the journey to Grand Haven. Wabasis and his family were not among them - he wouldn't risk loosing his life by leaving his wife. He feared the renegades were watching so they could collect on his death warrant. His people left room for Cobmoosa, but he refused to leave with them. He told his friends and family members he would be along shortly, but he sort of fibbed and was maybe hoping to die so he could be buried in the river valley before he had to walk to the reservation. Little did they know he wouldn't arrive until 1862. <br />
Cobmoosa assured them he made other arrangements and needed time to stay and finish up he still needed to be taken care of. He told them not to worry. He did indeed leave and he kept his promise to President James Buchanan and did abide by treaty requirements for resettlement at Pentwater. (continued).Richard Geldhofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06781012981690470662noreply@blogger.com0