Chief John Wabasis' Lost Treasure still waits unclaimed in his secret burial spot. Many have searched by day and with lanterns at night within the confines of Wabasis Lake Park and Campgrounds, the ancestral home of Wabasis and family. Men with glistening eyes don't come as frequently, but when they do come they bring the most sophisticated metal detectors and small digging tools. Some bring flashlights, lanterns and shovels hoping to find the lost cache that someone else missed.
Anyone who has ever dragged out metal detectors for any length of time knows that no matter how expensive the unit you still find lots of junk. Treasure hunting isn't for everyone and certainly not for couch potatoes who suddenly go wild over something they saw on TV. Treasure hunting can be exciting, but do some homework whether buying metal detectors or researching possible treasure cache sites. Treasure hunting is an excellent hobby for those who need to get outdoors and exercise, but it can also be physically challenging depending on what it is you seek. Beachcombing is wonderful to take in the sights of beauty - not just coins, but sea girls and boys, too, but do it from behind sunglasses dark enough so the girlfriend, wife or husband doesn't catch you staring distantly too long.
Treasure hunting can be an exhilerating sport that pits machine against man. Having good treasure hunting equipment and vehicles means little if you aren't physically capable, too, to handle the rigors of walking, climbing and digging getting your hands dirty. Be aware, too, the fact that it is important for you to be current on tetanus shots since you will encounter many rusty nails, metal, etc. Not everything a metal detector finds is worth money at a pawn shop or artifact swap meet. For most relic hunters it's a never ending battle to find something that others missed in a park. Depending on where modern age relic hunters prospect go to find artifacts it is important to understand that some sites require the hunter to show respect; namely old battefields and cemeteries. Tread carefully on cherished ground. To thoughtlessly litter or disgrace the landscape is nothing short of desecrating hallowed ground especially if that ground has been stained by human blood from dying soldiers and Indians. Indian cemeteries and graves are hallowed ground. Act human and tread lightly. It is when we get caught up in the excitement of the hunt that we sometimes get careless and forgetful.
Be wary of your surroundings while you listen with detector headphones. Be careful where you step because some of the biggest finds are where you don't expect them. Wabasis was a smart, jovial Indian, who listened to his own gut feelings when traveling. It wasn't until after his death in May 1863 that incoming settlers; farmers and lumbermen began to hear about Wabasis' lost treasure at Wabasis Lake. For more than twenty- four years they couldn't fathom what Wabasis had done to local Indians to make them so mad as to banish him for life to live at Wabasis Lake. Not all Indians hated Wabasis - just those who claimed Wabasis was stealing their treaty monies, but these were those Indians that were not recognized as worthy by the Great Chiefs and Indian superintendents. The Indians were required to maintain certain standards of which Chief Mucktasha didn't abide by, but rather scorned both government and incoming settlers.
Most treasure hunters search by daylight, while some of the most nocturnal use metal detectors, EMF recorders and infrared photography hoping to find a ghost hovering above or in the vicinity of a treasure cache. Hunting for ghosts is not for the squeamish or those afraid of paranormal activity. Ghost appearances do turn off relic hunters and there are those treasure hunters that have hunted for Wabasis treasure who say he protects the treasure. Even after Wabasis' death the Indians who searched for the lost treasure report Wabasis' spirit haunted their best attempts to locate the gold and silver cache. His spirit's energy field won't tempt you into hunting longer, and so, too, he won't give you the key to finding his treasure.
"All of us have an energy field (magnetic) within us... (or that surrounds of every being). Ghosts are energy forces left behind. The main reason for a ghost's existence is a traumatic or violent death. The spirit stays behind to continue doing what it did when it was incarnated in a body, replaying the death scene, perhaps in a robotic way, or resolving some conflict at the time of death," said Norm Gauthier, founder and director of the Society for Psychic Research.
Do ghosts exist? Wabasis' ghost reportedly exists? It's been seen in the Wabasis Lake Park on dark nights. Rarely is a white ghost form seen in moonlight, but those who report they've seen his spirit are sure he protects the treasure cache from those lantern holding treasure and relic hunters. Wabasis' spirit legend has deep roots acquired from those who have searched in vain and found nothing. Just because you've never seen the treasure doesn't mean it never really existed and just because you've never seen Wabasis' ghost does it doesn't it mean it doesn't exist. Wabasis' ghost, the spirit of his dead body continues to rise and haunt the living who search for his treasure or could it be just the foggy mists of Wabasis Lake hovering above the trees on cooling nights?
Spirits can be good or evil. Ghosts have been on earth since the days when Brutus and Cassius plotted the assassination of Caesar and Brutus was later haunted by Caesar's ghost (44 b.c.) as he was making battle plans against Anthony and Octavian (Augustus when emperor). Brutus was sitting alone in his tent when a spirit of horrifying gigantic proportions with a pale, emaciated face startled him saying 'I am your evil spirit' and said, 'You will see me again at Philippi'. This evil spirit Brutus saw again the night before he died on the battlefield at Philippi. The Holy Bible is no stranger to ghost sightings for even Job was nerve-wracked when a ghost appeared in front of him in which he said "Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake... as the spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.' He might have seen the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.
Paranormal researchers believe those who die violent deaths leave in imprint on localities caused by strong emotions experienced. The spirit or ghost is seen as a echo of the past that can last for years or centuries. This is why ghosts are associated with sightings where there has been a lot or misery, violence and murder. Wabasis lived all three threats for twenty-four years so theoretically his spirit was recorded somewhere in space and those who say they've seen his ghost have fallen into a momentary time-warp, which allows those who've seen him a quick glimpse of his past (pre-recorded on film). Want to find Wabasis' treasure?
Simply get some infrared film and EMF recording equipment and enjoy the park on the darkest of nights. His ghost has never been described as evil - just haunting those who search for his possible treasure cache of gold and silver. Wabasis was killed in Section 5 of Cannon Township and his spirit today hangs out in Section 29 of Oakfield Township (Kent County) Michigan. Wabasis might have died seven miles from Wabasis Lake, but unknown if any sightings of his ghost or spirit exist in the Leach Swamp region of Cannon Township and Barkley Creek glacial canyon in Plainfield Township. Unknown is where he hid the bulk of his treasure between Michael Smith's residence near the mouth of the Rogue River to where Wabasis was killed.
What physical feature existed in the 1840's that still hasn't been found today? That I believe is the key to finding Chief John Wabasis' Lost Treasure. Is it lost in Leach Swamp or Barkley Creek region. The stream's headwater is Lake Bella Vista. Maybe it's your time as a treasure or relic hunter to skirmish with Wabasis' ghost.
As a steward of history it is important to keep the history of our area and the people who live there ALIVE for the generations to follow. Legends never die, but sometimes legends get so big it becomes hard to understand what is factual or fiction. Whatever you do show some respect for the dead and study hard and take the time to reason with others and listen with a straining ear what others report. This concludes "The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure."
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 132
Chief Wabasis' banishment to his farm property at Wabasis Lake was a livesaver. Mucktasha was hoping to get a more favorable response out of the Grand River chiefs. He argued against sparing Wabasis' life. He sought revenge against Wabasis for his portrayal of Wabasis as a scoundrel and thief, but Wabasis at the council meetings defended himself repeatedly with "That's all the money there is and no more." It was 'tit for tat' and most of the chiefs refused to believe that John Wabasis, the pillar of Indian honesty would do otherwise. The chiefs knew of Mucktasha's hatred for Wabasis and incoming settlers and did their best to neutralize the situation.
Mucktasha wanted retribution for Wabasis helping the Grand River chiefs cede their lands to the U.S. government or sold to settlers. Legend has it that Wabasis didn't share the money, but kept it for himself, burying it, which earned him the fury of Mucktasha's tribe and a few other outlying chiefs. The biggest tribal chiefs chose to spare his life so that Wabasis in a moment of weakness would hopefully lead them to recover the gold and silver he supposedly stashed. To step off Wabasis' property meant instant death by any Indian.
Wabasis remained on his property for twenty-four years. His wife and children could come and go and they remained at his side until his death. Muctasha arrived each May for his share of money, but Wabasis stated there wasn't any and after many more years of Wabasis silence, the blackskin chief became more enraged by his failure to collect his money and he convinced Chief Neogamah, that it was hightime to carry out Indian justice and pass sentence and execute Wabasis. Both Indians in a visit to Wabasis lake enticed Wabasis to go to a corn festival at Prairie Indian village at Plainfield. What they never told Wabasis was that Prairie Village had been deserted since 1860. The Treaty of 1855 ended Indian occupation of any lands north of the Grand River. Most of the Indians went either to Mt. Pleasant, Pentwater or Petoskey. Muctasha and his band were considered derelicts or renegades who had always been trouble makers and who didn't abide with any treaties.
Chief Neogamah and Mucktasha convinced the depressed Wabasis in a friendly sort of way to trick him into leaving his property. Under whiteman law it'd be known as premeditated murder, but under Indian law it was justifiable execution. So in May 1863 Wabasis left by way of the Plainfield-Sheridan Trail, but he only walked about 10 miles when he met Neogamah and Muctasha at the Rum Creek crossing (Kies Rd.). As they sat in the lite of the campfire they all drank firewater in excess until liquor seized their minds and then the two stood angrily above Wabasis and beat the life out of him with firebrands and rocks. It was a violent death scene. No longer were they interested in finding the treasure, but revenge.
The next morning two farmers traveling down the trail noticed the smoldering fire and checked it out and found the bloodied body of Wabasis lying on the blank. Albert Pickett, the Marshal in Rockford and a Cannon Township Constable arrived and they confirmed it was Wabasis and the lawmen told the farmers Indian justice had finally been dealt out and it was none of their business to interfer. Wabasis was executed with the help of whiteman firewater, but if his death sentence were carried out in 1848, the outcome would have been even more brutal.
If Wabasis would have been sentenced and executed by the chiefs, they would have put a hatchet in his hands and led him to a large hollow log for which he was to fashion his own coffin to admit his body. He was then led away and tied to a tree and for the next several days to a week was tortured nightly in firelight, his skin burned by flames as drunken Indians took turns flitting arrows at his standing body. They'd have cut off his ears and nose and more cruel torture by liquor ensued until at last his head drooped towards the earth. Indian justice was mutilation.
Wabasis' body was removed by Indians and taken reportedly to Prairie Village. Legends say he was buried inside a crib with his head above ground and his knife at his side to display Indian retribution. His head could look out over the land he helped cede to the US government, but Wabasis wasn't buried looking south from the bluffs.
Wabasis was buried south of the Grand River looking north. In fact, I visited his monument in the late 1950's in Plainfield Township. Wabasis' monument was in the island south of where Plainfield Avenue meets the East Beltline that forms Northland Drive. The bronze marker plaque on a large granite stone was vandalized and removed by hoodlums in the early 1960's. The stone was then removed over to the Grand Rapids Gravel Company (where Walgreen's and Wendy's is today). Chief Kewaycooshcum's grave does look south from the bluffs of Prairie Village, but not Wabasis'. Kewaycooshcum signed the Treaty of 1821 ceding all lands south of the Grand River, but Wabasis wasn't a signee of the Treaty of 1836 or any treaties.
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' lost treasure didn't end here, but ever since 1863 wandering Indians and treasure hunters with greedy glints in their eyes with lanterns, picks, shovels, metal detectors and flashlights in hand have been seeking Wabasis' treasure troves. Upon hearing of Wabasis' death other Indians were angier at those who killed Wabasis so viciously. Down thru the years many have searched for Wabasis' gold, but what they encountered on dark nights has scared the living daylights out of some by Wabasis' angry ghost. Indian legends foretell how an angry ghost scared them, too.
Sightings of Wabasis' ghost rise to haunt the living when someone gets too close. Whether Wabasis' spirit is being used for 'evil' or good depends on the searcher for Wabasis' treasure trove. His violent death would indicate that on certain occasions his spirit is seeking revenge against those who killed him. His strong emotions at the time of his death may have left an imprint on the locality because he felt he was wrongly judged. Ghosts seem to only inhabit sites where there was lots of misery and violence or murder, but one would think that his ghost would be where he was murdered. Some believe the whole of the past is recorded somewhere in spacetime as though it were on film to be shown in the future. Those who see Wabasis ghost are caught in a momentary time-warp (trap) that if one were thinking as a treasure hunter might get a quick glimpse of the past in rerun time.
Shortly after Wabasis' death the Mucktasha tribe descended upon Wabasis property and searched nightly, but each time Wabasis angry ghost appeared spooking their horses, which in turn made them run, too. What they saw rattled their bones. Other treasure hunters report when Wabasis' angry ghost appears the hairs on their flesh stands at attention causing them to tremble and shake violently as if Wabasis' ghost has beseiged them. Don't laugh for legend has it that Caesar's ghost haunted Brutus who plotted his assassination. In the Holy Bible even Job saw a ghost that caused him much fear. Ghosts appear in darkness, not by light of day.
There is another legend within Wabasis' legend that fortells that when Chief Neogamah and Muctashas visited him to entice him to leave his property he was depressed. In the mid 1850's Wabasis' daughter who was in here early twenties had fallen in love with an Indian brave whom he didn't approve of. He forbid her to marry him, but she fell out of love for her father and reportedly stole the hidden stash and ran off with her lover. It is said she broke her father's heart and will to survive. Whether this legend is true is unknown. It has been said that ghosts are often associated with dire warnings for the living, but sometimes ghosts can save lives, so be careful where and what you do as you search for Chief John Wabasis' lost treasure. History has shown that when you mix Indians with treasures to be found they come with curses so beware!
Maybe the reason why Wabasis' lost treasure has never been found is because that's the way his ghost wants it. To my knowledge nobody has ever found anything of value, but just because you haven't found it doesn't mean it never existed.
Mucktasha wanted retribution for Wabasis helping the Grand River chiefs cede their lands to the U.S. government or sold to settlers. Legend has it that Wabasis didn't share the money, but kept it for himself, burying it, which earned him the fury of Mucktasha's tribe and a few other outlying chiefs. The biggest tribal chiefs chose to spare his life so that Wabasis in a moment of weakness would hopefully lead them to recover the gold and silver he supposedly stashed. To step off Wabasis' property meant instant death by any Indian.
Wabasis remained on his property for twenty-four years. His wife and children could come and go and they remained at his side until his death. Muctasha arrived each May for his share of money, but Wabasis stated there wasn't any and after many more years of Wabasis silence, the blackskin chief became more enraged by his failure to collect his money and he convinced Chief Neogamah, that it was hightime to carry out Indian justice and pass sentence and execute Wabasis. Both Indians in a visit to Wabasis lake enticed Wabasis to go to a corn festival at Prairie Indian village at Plainfield. What they never told Wabasis was that Prairie Village had been deserted since 1860. The Treaty of 1855 ended Indian occupation of any lands north of the Grand River. Most of the Indians went either to Mt. Pleasant, Pentwater or Petoskey. Muctasha and his band were considered derelicts or renegades who had always been trouble makers and who didn't abide with any treaties.
Chief Neogamah and Mucktasha convinced the depressed Wabasis in a friendly sort of way to trick him into leaving his property. Under whiteman law it'd be known as premeditated murder, but under Indian law it was justifiable execution. So in May 1863 Wabasis left by way of the Plainfield-Sheridan Trail, but he only walked about 10 miles when he met Neogamah and Muctasha at the Rum Creek crossing (Kies Rd.). As they sat in the lite of the campfire they all drank firewater in excess until liquor seized their minds and then the two stood angrily above Wabasis and beat the life out of him with firebrands and rocks. It was a violent death scene. No longer were they interested in finding the treasure, but revenge.
The next morning two farmers traveling down the trail noticed the smoldering fire and checked it out and found the bloodied body of Wabasis lying on the blank. Albert Pickett, the Marshal in Rockford and a Cannon Township Constable arrived and they confirmed it was Wabasis and the lawmen told the farmers Indian justice had finally been dealt out and it was none of their business to interfer. Wabasis was executed with the help of whiteman firewater, but if his death sentence were carried out in 1848, the outcome would have been even more brutal.
If Wabasis would have been sentenced and executed by the chiefs, they would have put a hatchet in his hands and led him to a large hollow log for which he was to fashion his own coffin to admit his body. He was then led away and tied to a tree and for the next several days to a week was tortured nightly in firelight, his skin burned by flames as drunken Indians took turns flitting arrows at his standing body. They'd have cut off his ears and nose and more cruel torture by liquor ensued until at last his head drooped towards the earth. Indian justice was mutilation.
Wabasis' body was removed by Indians and taken reportedly to Prairie Village. Legends say he was buried inside a crib with his head above ground and his knife at his side to display Indian retribution. His head could look out over the land he helped cede to the US government, but Wabasis wasn't buried looking south from the bluffs.
Wabasis was buried south of the Grand River looking north. In fact, I visited his monument in the late 1950's in Plainfield Township. Wabasis' monument was in the island south of where Plainfield Avenue meets the East Beltline that forms Northland Drive. The bronze marker plaque on a large granite stone was vandalized and removed by hoodlums in the early 1960's. The stone was then removed over to the Grand Rapids Gravel Company (where Walgreen's and Wendy's is today). Chief Kewaycooshcum's grave does look south from the bluffs of Prairie Village, but not Wabasis'. Kewaycooshcum signed the Treaty of 1821 ceding all lands south of the Grand River, but Wabasis wasn't a signee of the Treaty of 1836 or any treaties.
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' lost treasure didn't end here, but ever since 1863 wandering Indians and treasure hunters with greedy glints in their eyes with lanterns, picks, shovels, metal detectors and flashlights in hand have been seeking Wabasis' treasure troves. Upon hearing of Wabasis' death other Indians were angier at those who killed Wabasis so viciously. Down thru the years many have searched for Wabasis' gold, but what they encountered on dark nights has scared the living daylights out of some by Wabasis' angry ghost. Indian legends foretell how an angry ghost scared them, too.
Sightings of Wabasis' ghost rise to haunt the living when someone gets too close. Whether Wabasis' spirit is being used for 'evil' or good depends on the searcher for Wabasis' treasure trove. His violent death would indicate that on certain occasions his spirit is seeking revenge against those who killed him. His strong emotions at the time of his death may have left an imprint on the locality because he felt he was wrongly judged. Ghosts seem to only inhabit sites where there was lots of misery and violence or murder, but one would think that his ghost would be where he was murdered. Some believe the whole of the past is recorded somewhere in spacetime as though it were on film to be shown in the future. Those who see Wabasis ghost are caught in a momentary time-warp (trap) that if one were thinking as a treasure hunter might get a quick glimpse of the past in rerun time.
Shortly after Wabasis' death the Mucktasha tribe descended upon Wabasis property and searched nightly, but each time Wabasis angry ghost appeared spooking their horses, which in turn made them run, too. What they saw rattled their bones. Other treasure hunters report when Wabasis' angry ghost appears the hairs on their flesh stands at attention causing them to tremble and shake violently as if Wabasis' ghost has beseiged them. Don't laugh for legend has it that Caesar's ghost haunted Brutus who plotted his assassination. In the Holy Bible even Job saw a ghost that caused him much fear. Ghosts appear in darkness, not by light of day.
There is another legend within Wabasis' legend that fortells that when Chief Neogamah and Muctashas visited him to entice him to leave his property he was depressed. In the mid 1850's Wabasis' daughter who was in here early twenties had fallen in love with an Indian brave whom he didn't approve of. He forbid her to marry him, but she fell out of love for her father and reportedly stole the hidden stash and ran off with her lover. It is said she broke her father's heart and will to survive. Whether this legend is true is unknown. It has been said that ghosts are often associated with dire warnings for the living, but sometimes ghosts can save lives, so be careful where and what you do as you search for Chief John Wabasis' lost treasure. History has shown that when you mix Indians with treasures to be found they come with curses so beware!
Maybe the reason why Wabasis' lost treasure has never been found is because that's the way his ghost wants it. To my knowledge nobody has ever found anything of value, but just because you haven't found it doesn't mean it never existed.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 131
Chief John Wabasis lived the life of a condemned Indian for nearly twenty-five years. He escaped certain death by disgruntled others who swore out their own version of imminent death if he left his farm along the most western shores of Wabasis Lake. For twenty-four years he lived in his log house atop the high hill that overlooks lake and farm of present day Kent County Park and Campground. Frequently old John Wabasis could be seen near the limestone caves and it has been the contention by many treasure hunters that Wabasis' lost treasure lies within the inner regions. Many have searched in vain on land, but the size of the wetland areas has changed since 1863. Could the kettle be buried in the cattail marshes?
If gold and silver were kettlelized inside the caves it is lost forever, but as you've learned each family of Indians had its own kettle for cooking and I doubt Mrs. Wabasis would let her husband take it and bury his riches in it for safe keeping. Kettles were for cooking and the old pots were not taken back and forth from summer to winter quarters, however, when they left the summer grounds most Ottawas and Chippewas would put their most prized possessions in them and bury them until they returned from winter grounds.
The majority of Wabasis' lost treasure was buried many miles beyond Wabasis Lake. Sure when Chief Wabasis left his farm he had a few coins, but the whole purpose of banishing him to his property was so that Mucktasha's tribal members could spy on him to find his stash. It's amazing how Chief Wabasis kept the treasure hidden for twenty-four years without tipping off those like Mucktasha who convinced Chief Neogamah it was time to kill Chief Wabasis. The Blackskins had lost hope of ever finding the treasure.
Still Chief Wabasis left his banished property and faced the prospect of death many times. Fact is the legend concerning the "kettle" burial happened not during the year he was killed, but about May 1848, when he had a premonition that danger lurked along the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail. He had just picked up his last Indian payment as a half-breed and those of his family unit along with the payments going out to about 1,200 other Indians.
The Indian superintendent would call out the names of chiefs and heads of families to get a certain amount. Spread out in piles of $10 and $20 in half-silver dollars on the council table each man was called up by the Indian superintendent and the interpreter told the clerk who one by one checked them off the list. As the 'crier' called off the names the Indians would present themselves and once paid off family members would gather around them and receive their share and beyond them stood the traders to collect Indian debts, which sometimes left the Indians with little to show for a years wage.
The treaty language of 1836, which changed the way Indians were paid in 1834, which stipulated now that each family head must appear and account for himself and members of his family. No proxy (Wabasis) could receive payments for others. Payment in gold lasted about five years until the government was running short of gold coins. Sometimes the chiefs depending on who signed the treaty got $2000 a year, but that figure was subdivided amongst his family members. It was only the single or widowed chiefs who received lump sum payments.
Remember, too, the half-breeds were paid at higher rates than Chiefs, but the payment was at the descretion of the various tribal chiefs. Still those Indians like Mucktasha's blackskin tribe near Greenville objected to how much Wabasis was paid. Wabasis invested it in white man ventures and actually did purchased treaty lands for his own use. Wabasis could have been paid slightly less or more than $50,000 for helping the government acquire land north of the Grand River, but he inherited lots of money from Wobwindigo, Cobmoosa and his family unit, too.
As I've said frequently Wabasis' lost treasure, the largest share isn't buried and Wabasis Lake but elsewhere. In May 1848 he on his way back home with a large cache of treaty money and had just crossed the Grand River near the head of Grand Island and stopped at his white man friend's house. Michael Smith entertained Wabasis who clutched a heavy bag inside his light buckskin jacket. The coins jiggled and clanked when Wabasis walked for several hours and then 'out of the blue' Wabasis asked Smith if he had and old iron kettle and a horse he could borrow for a little while. Smith was puzzled. 'Did his friend have a premonition of impending doom?' Wabasis never told him why he needed a kettle. Smith thought he might collect some wild strawberries and return, since it was a warmer than normal spring. No snow or little in 1847-48. Michigan was a tinderbox. Bonfire and campfires were prohibited.
Chief Wabasis looked nervous as he climbed onto the horse's back and Smith gave him the kettle. Chief John Wabasis rode up the trail northward and James House (age 17) who lived with his parents about a mile north or Prairie Village saw Wabasis pass, the old horse plodding with gruff man on his back. House watched him fade off over the hill and that's the last he saw of Wabasis that day, but he missed his return with the horse minus the kettle.
Smith said, "Wabasis was only gone for three or four hours, but he returned minus the kettle and bag of money - no clanking of coins." Wabasis returned the horse and paid him for the kettle, thanked Smith and walked towards home on foot. The kettle of money was buried somewhere along the Plainfield-Sheridan Trail.
If this is true (this is the real kettle of treasures) how far can a hefty Indian riding an old plow horse travel in 3-5 hours before returning to the Smith residence? That's between the mouth of the Rogue River and Prairie Village (Blythefield Country Club). The House residence was just below the Kuttshill Hill just short of present day Blythefield Baptist Church. The House family farm looked down upon Prairie Village.
On foot Wabasis could probably have walked about a mile per twenty-minutes or less, but how far on horseback along the trail and what physical land features could have existed in 1848 along this trail? It is highly possible that the kettle of treasure is buried somewhere in the Barkley Creek glacial canyon and Grass Lake (Bella Vista) that meanders northwest thru Leach Swamp.
Leach Swamp was known to Constables as the place where those they sought, like Vincent Tucker, an emboldened thief who seemingly disappeared during a summer manhunt without a trace in 1878. Rockford Marshal and Cannon Township Constables chased him into the swamp and personally noted it was someplace nobody should visit. I have reason to believe the kettle of real treasure is between Myers Lake Ave (east), Ten Mile Road (north), Belding Road (south) Jericho/Gibralter Rd. (west). This is the vicinity in which Wabasis traveled. Remember this $50,000 treasure in 1848 might be worth just under $1 million today. The legend of Wabasis' lost treasure has been morphed and twisted so badly over the past 150 years that the original "kettle of treasure" and its original burial spot do not exist. Everyone keeps looking in the wrong place at Wabasis Lake. Whatever lies in an undisclosed location at Wabasis Lake is a 'minor' treasure, but it is still worth looking for since the "Curse of Wabasis' Lost Treasure" exists in the hearts of many treasure hunters who say something haunts the park on dark nights. You'll want to read the next installment #132 for his death and the paranormal activity surrounding his death and treasure still that lies within the park.
The only reason the Kent County Parks Commission sealed the limestone caves is because they were dangerous. In fact, Carl Tower said, "the caves crumbled when he was inside once" as a young boy. Bumping any rock outcroppings caused rock slides and the caves went straight back in about 40-50 feet, but he never found anything of Indian culture inside. To disturb the rocks caused cave-ins and that scared him when playing inside them. Yes, it is possible the minor treasures of Wabasis might be buried here, but surely someone would have found it between 1863-1943.
Sixty-seven years ago government officials decided nobody else should investigate the caves for fear the crumbly limestone might crush them and they had no expert "spelunkers" who wanted to risk life and limb to rescue treasure hunters. To go inside small caves in Michigan without telling someone or carrying GPS or cellphone is foolish and downright stupid like the three Utah treasure hunters in 2010 who tried to find the Lost Dutchman's Mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.
Don't miss "Wabasis death and The Curse of Chief Wabasis' Treasure." Bet you didn't know the later topic?
If gold and silver were kettlelized inside the caves it is lost forever, but as you've learned each family of Indians had its own kettle for cooking and I doubt Mrs. Wabasis would let her husband take it and bury his riches in it for safe keeping. Kettles were for cooking and the old pots were not taken back and forth from summer to winter quarters, however, when they left the summer grounds most Ottawas and Chippewas would put their most prized possessions in them and bury them until they returned from winter grounds.
The majority of Wabasis' lost treasure was buried many miles beyond Wabasis Lake. Sure when Chief Wabasis left his farm he had a few coins, but the whole purpose of banishing him to his property was so that Mucktasha's tribal members could spy on him to find his stash. It's amazing how Chief Wabasis kept the treasure hidden for twenty-four years without tipping off those like Mucktasha who convinced Chief Neogamah it was time to kill Chief Wabasis. The Blackskins had lost hope of ever finding the treasure.
Still Chief Wabasis left his banished property and faced the prospect of death many times. Fact is the legend concerning the "kettle" burial happened not during the year he was killed, but about May 1848, when he had a premonition that danger lurked along the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail. He had just picked up his last Indian payment as a half-breed and those of his family unit along with the payments going out to about 1,200 other Indians.
The Indian superintendent would call out the names of chiefs and heads of families to get a certain amount. Spread out in piles of $10 and $20 in half-silver dollars on the council table each man was called up by the Indian superintendent and the interpreter told the clerk who one by one checked them off the list. As the 'crier' called off the names the Indians would present themselves and once paid off family members would gather around them and receive their share and beyond them stood the traders to collect Indian debts, which sometimes left the Indians with little to show for a years wage.
The treaty language of 1836, which changed the way Indians were paid in 1834, which stipulated now that each family head must appear and account for himself and members of his family. No proxy (Wabasis) could receive payments for others. Payment in gold lasted about five years until the government was running short of gold coins. Sometimes the chiefs depending on who signed the treaty got $2000 a year, but that figure was subdivided amongst his family members. It was only the single or widowed chiefs who received lump sum payments.
Remember, too, the half-breeds were paid at higher rates than Chiefs, but the payment was at the descretion of the various tribal chiefs. Still those Indians like Mucktasha's blackskin tribe near Greenville objected to how much Wabasis was paid. Wabasis invested it in white man ventures and actually did purchased treaty lands for his own use. Wabasis could have been paid slightly less or more than $50,000 for helping the government acquire land north of the Grand River, but he inherited lots of money from Wobwindigo, Cobmoosa and his family unit, too.
As I've said frequently Wabasis' lost treasure, the largest share isn't buried and Wabasis Lake but elsewhere. In May 1848 he on his way back home with a large cache of treaty money and had just crossed the Grand River near the head of Grand Island and stopped at his white man friend's house. Michael Smith entertained Wabasis who clutched a heavy bag inside his light buckskin jacket. The coins jiggled and clanked when Wabasis walked for several hours and then 'out of the blue' Wabasis asked Smith if he had and old iron kettle and a horse he could borrow for a little while. Smith was puzzled. 'Did his friend have a premonition of impending doom?' Wabasis never told him why he needed a kettle. Smith thought he might collect some wild strawberries and return, since it was a warmer than normal spring. No snow or little in 1847-48. Michigan was a tinderbox. Bonfire and campfires were prohibited.
Chief Wabasis looked nervous as he climbed onto the horse's back and Smith gave him the kettle. Chief John Wabasis rode up the trail northward and James House (age 17) who lived with his parents about a mile north or Prairie Village saw Wabasis pass, the old horse plodding with gruff man on his back. House watched him fade off over the hill and that's the last he saw of Wabasis that day, but he missed his return with the horse minus the kettle.
Smith said, "Wabasis was only gone for three or four hours, but he returned minus the kettle and bag of money - no clanking of coins." Wabasis returned the horse and paid him for the kettle, thanked Smith and walked towards home on foot. The kettle of money was buried somewhere along the Plainfield-Sheridan Trail.
If this is true (this is the real kettle of treasures) how far can a hefty Indian riding an old plow horse travel in 3-5 hours before returning to the Smith residence? That's between the mouth of the Rogue River and Prairie Village (Blythefield Country Club). The House residence was just below the Kuttshill Hill just short of present day Blythefield Baptist Church. The House family farm looked down upon Prairie Village.
On foot Wabasis could probably have walked about a mile per twenty-minutes or less, but how far on horseback along the trail and what physical land features could have existed in 1848 along this trail? It is highly possible that the kettle of treasure is buried somewhere in the Barkley Creek glacial canyon and Grass Lake (Bella Vista) that meanders northwest thru Leach Swamp.
Leach Swamp was known to Constables as the place where those they sought, like Vincent Tucker, an emboldened thief who seemingly disappeared during a summer manhunt without a trace in 1878. Rockford Marshal and Cannon Township Constables chased him into the swamp and personally noted it was someplace nobody should visit. I have reason to believe the kettle of real treasure is between Myers Lake Ave (east), Ten Mile Road (north), Belding Road (south) Jericho/Gibralter Rd. (west). This is the vicinity in which Wabasis traveled. Remember this $50,000 treasure in 1848 might be worth just under $1 million today. The legend of Wabasis' lost treasure has been morphed and twisted so badly over the past 150 years that the original "kettle of treasure" and its original burial spot do not exist. Everyone keeps looking in the wrong place at Wabasis Lake. Whatever lies in an undisclosed location at Wabasis Lake is a 'minor' treasure, but it is still worth looking for since the "Curse of Wabasis' Lost Treasure" exists in the hearts of many treasure hunters who say something haunts the park on dark nights. You'll want to read the next installment #132 for his death and the paranormal activity surrounding his death and treasure still that lies within the park.
The only reason the Kent County Parks Commission sealed the limestone caves is because they were dangerous. In fact, Carl Tower said, "the caves crumbled when he was inside once" as a young boy. Bumping any rock outcroppings caused rock slides and the caves went straight back in about 40-50 feet, but he never found anything of Indian culture inside. To disturb the rocks caused cave-ins and that scared him when playing inside them. Yes, it is possible the minor treasures of Wabasis might be buried here, but surely someone would have found it between 1863-1943.
Sixty-seven years ago government officials decided nobody else should investigate the caves for fear the crumbly limestone might crush them and they had no expert "spelunkers" who wanted to risk life and limb to rescue treasure hunters. To go inside small caves in Michigan without telling someone or carrying GPS or cellphone is foolish and downright stupid like the three Utah treasure hunters in 2010 who tried to find the Lost Dutchman's Mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.
Don't miss "Wabasis death and The Curse of Chief Wabasis' Treasure." Bet you didn't know the later topic?
Monday, January 3, 2011
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 130
"If Chief Wabasis' lost treasure pot hasn't been found near Wabasis Lake for nearly 150 years where is it hidden?" The pot or kettle containing his stash is real, but it is buried in two different places. At today's gold prices it'd be worth about $750,000. He was a smart Indian; full of wisdom to know you don't put all your money in one account or place when you feel threatened by those who have a penchant for killing you and stealing the wealth you have hidden. Old Indian Joe of Cannonsburg put his money in mason jars and buried it. Banning Wabasis to live the remainder of his years on his own garden plot at Wabasis Lake wasn't in the best interest of his immediate family or those who wanted him dead. It sure wouldn't to those who wanted their money or would it?
Knowing the relationships of the Indians and who respected Wabasis more, well that's what kept Wabasis alive for 24 years, more years than the disgruntled wanted to put up with. Not all the Indians thought Wabasis was a scoundrel and thief, for the most popular chiefs stayed out of fray and kept the peace with settlers and removed to reservations in Missouri or Michigan. Wabasis never sold the land, but peacefully helped the Grand River valley tribes and Federal government settle their differences with a treaty that meant no bloodshed.
What Wabasis wasn't privy to was the fact that Congress had changed the way Indians were being paid in 1834. When Wabasis appeared to pick up the Indian payments for the Blackskins and Ottawas in 1838, he was suprised to learn that each head of the families must appear for payment - no proxies. He could only pick up his share, that as a head of his family unit and since he was a half-breed he was awarded higher pay than if he was a full chief who signed the treaty. When Chief Wobwindigo died in 1837, he got another share as the adopted son of Wobwindingo and another as the foster son of Cobmoosa and the shares of his mother, too. The various chiefs got paid about $2000.00 yearly who invested those sums in settler futures; steamboats and freight businesses of early Grand Rapids.
The Treaty of 1836 left the Grand River Ottawa tribes vulnerable to forced removal. McCoy felt they should be removed to Missouri or anywhere west of the Mississippi, but this was never formally ratified, so Congress wrote an amendement after the treaty was signed placing the Indians in Michigan reservations, but for five years and after 1841 they must move west. They got no permanent status.
When the chiefs got wind of the 'forked tongue' decisions by Congress and President Polk they immediately filed suit claiming that President Andrew Jackson's treaty with them was broken by Washington bureaucrats and they began pressuring the Federal government to negotiate a new treaty that guaranteed them permanent reservation status in their traditional territories in Michigan. As a result of this conflict some Indians thought it fruitless to engage the Federal government and either moved while those who stayed died of white settler diseases before they could collect one government payment. As sickness spread so did the various Indian families who disappeared into the wilderness or buried in Indian cemeteries. These families didn't receive their payments until a census showed where they took up residence.
As for Wabasis he returned to Grand Rapids to pick up his treaty monies each May. Those pesky Blackskins who were always threatening him with death if he left his banishment property weren't very good at watching him only because they were loafers and derelicts, but they were always the first to condemn Wabasis as a traitor and thief.
Yes, Wabasis was the selected one to bring the chiefs money, but it was the Federal government who changed the way the Indians would be paid. The Indian agents didn't allow proxies to pick up payments for other heads of families and neither were Indians who were loafers going to be paid. The government had placed certain standards on the Indians and they were to adhere to the provisions of payment as the treaty stipulated. When Wabasis returned with the money and as Indians appeared for payment, the amount he doled out was far below what they expected.
Those who were disappointed and became irate protested, but Wabasis didn't cave in to their demands. He insisted "That's all there is, there wasn't anymore!" When Wabasis wouldn't capitulate and furnish additional gold coinage, the newly elected Chief Neogamah of the Prairie Village at Plainfield in association with Chief Mucktasha banished Chief Wabasis to live on his 40-acre garden plot at Wabasis Lake for the remainder of his life. They classified him as a scoundrel and thief and should he leave any Indian could kill him wherever he was found. This all happened before 1842.
Wabasis retired to his garden plot and never ventured more than one mile from Wabasis Lake. So instead of confining himself to his property he had access to more than 12 square mile of land or water upon which to bury a 'pot or kettle of gold and silver' where he could save some cash, but this isn't where the bulk of the treasure is hidden. Sure Wabasis always had some coins in his hands or rustled them in his pockets for 24 years, but he never tipped off the Blackskins where it was hidden. The Blackskins in the vicinity were renegades and instead of farming chose to panhandle incoming settlers for food and supplies. Wabasis watched the years pass, the cemetery fires dwindling and, so too, did Indian families trickle by heading towards a reservation at Mt. Pleasant.
A new treaty was signed in 1855 and within the next five years all Indians living north of the Grand River must relocate to a reservation at Mt. Pleasant, Pentwater or Petoskey. This treaty provided for individual Indian occupancy of lands in 4 adjoining townships in Oceana and Mason counties. Single, sole Indians, received 40 acres and heads of families 80 acres. All the Grand River Valley Indians left in 1859. A virtual sea of approximately 3000 Indians went down the Grand River and U.S. government vessels took them up to Pentwater as Wabasis and family stayed encamped on Stephen Towers property until his death. Mucktasha and Neogamah roamed freely and always anticipated that Wabasis would accidentally show them where he hid his pot or kettle of gold and silver and that they'd recover what they thought he was stealing from them. Mucktasha was so lazy he never went to Grand Rapids to get his monies still waiting for him. He always countered he wanted nothing to do with whitemen.
Thousands of Indians left for Pentwater and Petoskey Bay and within two years the Indians on the reservations heard the Civil War had started between the North and South and the U.S. government was seeking Indian fighters. In the deep south the Cherokees of Arkansas were enlisting and word came that some of the Indians old white settler friends living at Prairie Village had enlisted and were seeking Ottawa Indian fighters, since they were accustomed to living with Indians. Area red men and white men joined the Union Army together.
Martin House, the bother of Andrew House enlisted at Grand Rapids and called upon his Ottawa Indian friends to enlist and serve with him in Co. F, 6th Michigan Cavalry, and he was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1863. Martin was at ease fighting alongside Co. K, which was made up almost entirely of Ottawa Indians from the Petoskey Bay Indian Reservation. Company K's flag in the Capitol in Lansing shows the most tattered of all Michigan military Civil War flags. The screams of Indian fighters (Cherokees and Ottawa Indians) was terrifying to white soldiers as they battled to survive a blazing forest fire. This is where guerilla warfare earned its reputation.
Serj. James Cowan, a friend of Chief Wabasis, who lived about 2 miles west of Wabasis' plot saw the guerilla warfare of area Union Ottawas Indians from Michigan and Cherokee Confederates from Arkansas fight each other through walls of flaming forest fires during the Battle of the Wilderness. Cowan was killed in action May 1864, but in his letters to home he said that Union Indians were buried on the same battlefields together with white men. When he received word that Chief Wabasis was killed off his garden plot he couldn't fathom why Neogamah and Mucktasha could foster so much hatred for such a well respected Indian. Cowan grew up with Wabasis' kids and knew Wabasis as an honest, well respected man. How could so much violence be perpetrated against him from the disbanded renegades living in northeast Oakfield and Greenville areas at a time when the sobs and wailings of grief stricken families could be heard on still nights drifting over the countryside after receiving news from the war department on the loss of sons, grandson's and husband's on distant southern battlefields.
Although forced onto reservations the Michigan Indians fought side-by-side with farming friends and those who once forced them into exile, but who still joined the Union Army. Time was nearing an end for Wabasis. He knew the day would come when if by chance he sneaked away and were found out that he left his farm he could be killed, but he always disappeared into the bush and traveled just out of sight along the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian trail. The days and year slipped away, and he saw the pilgramages of Indians leaving the area and yet over the years he managed to slip away unnoticed to pick up his annuity payments and return unscathed. Surely he could leave now that the Indians had left until one day when Mucktasha appeared and ... that's all for today.
You must read - #131 for Wabasis demise and why the majority of the treasure is outside the Wabasis Lake area. Ponder this statement, "Each family had its own kettle, but Wabasis had two separated by twenty years and within lies two secrets to why the treasure hasn't been found and where you might start your search.
Knowing the relationships of the Indians and who respected Wabasis more, well that's what kept Wabasis alive for 24 years, more years than the disgruntled wanted to put up with. Not all the Indians thought Wabasis was a scoundrel and thief, for the most popular chiefs stayed out of fray and kept the peace with settlers and removed to reservations in Missouri or Michigan. Wabasis never sold the land, but peacefully helped the Grand River valley tribes and Federal government settle their differences with a treaty that meant no bloodshed.
What Wabasis wasn't privy to was the fact that Congress had changed the way Indians were being paid in 1834. When Wabasis appeared to pick up the Indian payments for the Blackskins and Ottawas in 1838, he was suprised to learn that each head of the families must appear for payment - no proxies. He could only pick up his share, that as a head of his family unit and since he was a half-breed he was awarded higher pay than if he was a full chief who signed the treaty. When Chief Wobwindigo died in 1837, he got another share as the adopted son of Wobwindingo and another as the foster son of Cobmoosa and the shares of his mother, too. The various chiefs got paid about $2000.00 yearly who invested those sums in settler futures; steamboats and freight businesses of early Grand Rapids.
The Treaty of 1836 left the Grand River Ottawa tribes vulnerable to forced removal. McCoy felt they should be removed to Missouri or anywhere west of the Mississippi, but this was never formally ratified, so Congress wrote an amendement after the treaty was signed placing the Indians in Michigan reservations, but for five years and after 1841 they must move west. They got no permanent status.
When the chiefs got wind of the 'forked tongue' decisions by Congress and President Polk they immediately filed suit claiming that President Andrew Jackson's treaty with them was broken by Washington bureaucrats and they began pressuring the Federal government to negotiate a new treaty that guaranteed them permanent reservation status in their traditional territories in Michigan. As a result of this conflict some Indians thought it fruitless to engage the Federal government and either moved while those who stayed died of white settler diseases before they could collect one government payment. As sickness spread so did the various Indian families who disappeared into the wilderness or buried in Indian cemeteries. These families didn't receive their payments until a census showed where they took up residence.
As for Wabasis he returned to Grand Rapids to pick up his treaty monies each May. Those pesky Blackskins who were always threatening him with death if he left his banishment property weren't very good at watching him only because they were loafers and derelicts, but they were always the first to condemn Wabasis as a traitor and thief.
Yes, Wabasis was the selected one to bring the chiefs money, but it was the Federal government who changed the way the Indians would be paid. The Indian agents didn't allow proxies to pick up payments for other heads of families and neither were Indians who were loafers going to be paid. The government had placed certain standards on the Indians and they were to adhere to the provisions of payment as the treaty stipulated. When Wabasis returned with the money and as Indians appeared for payment, the amount he doled out was far below what they expected.
Those who were disappointed and became irate protested, but Wabasis didn't cave in to their demands. He insisted "That's all there is, there wasn't anymore!" When Wabasis wouldn't capitulate and furnish additional gold coinage, the newly elected Chief Neogamah of the Prairie Village at Plainfield in association with Chief Mucktasha banished Chief Wabasis to live on his 40-acre garden plot at Wabasis Lake for the remainder of his life. They classified him as a scoundrel and thief and should he leave any Indian could kill him wherever he was found. This all happened before 1842.
Wabasis retired to his garden plot and never ventured more than one mile from Wabasis Lake. So instead of confining himself to his property he had access to more than 12 square mile of land or water upon which to bury a 'pot or kettle of gold and silver' where he could save some cash, but this isn't where the bulk of the treasure is hidden. Sure Wabasis always had some coins in his hands or rustled them in his pockets for 24 years, but he never tipped off the Blackskins where it was hidden. The Blackskins in the vicinity were renegades and instead of farming chose to panhandle incoming settlers for food and supplies. Wabasis watched the years pass, the cemetery fires dwindling and, so too, did Indian families trickle by heading towards a reservation at Mt. Pleasant.
A new treaty was signed in 1855 and within the next five years all Indians living north of the Grand River must relocate to a reservation at Mt. Pleasant, Pentwater or Petoskey. This treaty provided for individual Indian occupancy of lands in 4 adjoining townships in Oceana and Mason counties. Single, sole Indians, received 40 acres and heads of families 80 acres. All the Grand River Valley Indians left in 1859. A virtual sea of approximately 3000 Indians went down the Grand River and U.S. government vessels took them up to Pentwater as Wabasis and family stayed encamped on Stephen Towers property until his death. Mucktasha and Neogamah roamed freely and always anticipated that Wabasis would accidentally show them where he hid his pot or kettle of gold and silver and that they'd recover what they thought he was stealing from them. Mucktasha was so lazy he never went to Grand Rapids to get his monies still waiting for him. He always countered he wanted nothing to do with whitemen.
Thousands of Indians left for Pentwater and Petoskey Bay and within two years the Indians on the reservations heard the Civil War had started between the North and South and the U.S. government was seeking Indian fighters. In the deep south the Cherokees of Arkansas were enlisting and word came that some of the Indians old white settler friends living at Prairie Village had enlisted and were seeking Ottawa Indian fighters, since they were accustomed to living with Indians. Area red men and white men joined the Union Army together.
Martin House, the bother of Andrew House enlisted at Grand Rapids and called upon his Ottawa Indian friends to enlist and serve with him in Co. F, 6th Michigan Cavalry, and he was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1863. Martin was at ease fighting alongside Co. K, which was made up almost entirely of Ottawa Indians from the Petoskey Bay Indian Reservation. Company K's flag in the Capitol in Lansing shows the most tattered of all Michigan military Civil War flags. The screams of Indian fighters (Cherokees and Ottawa Indians) was terrifying to white soldiers as they battled to survive a blazing forest fire. This is where guerilla warfare earned its reputation.
Serj. James Cowan, a friend of Chief Wabasis, who lived about 2 miles west of Wabasis' plot saw the guerilla warfare of area Union Ottawas Indians from Michigan and Cherokee Confederates from Arkansas fight each other through walls of flaming forest fires during the Battle of the Wilderness. Cowan was killed in action May 1864, but in his letters to home he said that Union Indians were buried on the same battlefields together with white men. When he received word that Chief Wabasis was killed off his garden plot he couldn't fathom why Neogamah and Mucktasha could foster so much hatred for such a well respected Indian. Cowan grew up with Wabasis' kids and knew Wabasis as an honest, well respected man. How could so much violence be perpetrated against him from the disbanded renegades living in northeast Oakfield and Greenville areas at a time when the sobs and wailings of grief stricken families could be heard on still nights drifting over the countryside after receiving news from the war department on the loss of sons, grandson's and husband's on distant southern battlefields.
Although forced onto reservations the Michigan Indians fought side-by-side with farming friends and those who once forced them into exile, but who still joined the Union Army. Time was nearing an end for Wabasis. He knew the day would come when if by chance he sneaked away and were found out that he left his farm he could be killed, but he always disappeared into the bush and traveled just out of sight along the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian trail. The days and year slipped away, and he saw the pilgramages of Indians leaving the area and yet over the years he managed to slip away unnoticed to pick up his annuity payments and return unscathed. Surely he could leave now that the Indians had left until one day when Mucktasha appeared and ... that's all for today.
You must read - #131 for Wabasis demise and why the majority of the treasure is outside the Wabasis Lake area. Ponder this statement, "Each family had its own kettle, but Wabasis had two separated by twenty years and within lies two secrets to why the treasure hasn't been found and where you might start your search.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 129
Sub-Chief John Wabasis was proud of his achievements at keeping the peace in the Grand River valley and with the signing of the Treaty of 1836 he reaped a whirlwind of money from the Federal government. His services to the Indian nations made him a prominent figure among the Indians and the incoming settlers. With the passing of Wobwindigo he became chief of his own family tribe; his wife Cononoma, and three children before 1840 and Wabasis had already made several trips to Grand Rapids in late Spring to pickup his share of his annuity payments.
Many people believe he kept the different tribal shares, but he couldn't because each head of families was supposed to appear in person to pick up the family share - not the tribal share. When he returned home the Blackskins were insistant that he wasn't giving them enough money and each time Wabasis insisted 'this is all you get.' Well the Indians began to accuse him of hoarding their share and each time Wabasis insisted they didn't get so much because under the treaty agreement they had to prosper themselves instead of loafing and panhandling incoming settlers for handouts. This treaty was going to make sure that the Indians who lived according to how they were taught by the missionaries by investing in businesses and agriculture practices; farming, etc. would get the money. The Blackskins northeast of Wabasis Lake were known by many settlers as loafers and derelicts and didn't follow the treaty guidelines. These were the renegades who previously didn't want to sign the treaty.
Henry Schoolcraft, the Indian agent afloat had the discretion to award larger sums of money, but only to those the Chiefs said deserved the annuity payments. Schoolcraft reported his finding each year about those Indians they found disserving and the President could deny compensation to all Indians who didn't meet the expectations of the treaty language. Indian payments were further delayed to some because when diseases began killing the Indians individual tribes and families left with no known forwarding address. According to the Treaty of 1836, that's when the Indians signed it at Traverse City in Sept. 1836, no formal preparations were available for Indian removal, yet theoritic plans were for all those north of the Grand River to move west of the Mississippi. Many chose to go further north and settle on reservation land at Pentwater, Manistee, Traverse, or Mt. Pleasant.
However when some Indians got their first annuity payments they began investing their newly gotten gains in settler enterprises; steamboats and freighting businesses, and some purchased back their own individual pieces of land south of the Grand River. After everything was settled Congress got wind of the purchases and declared that wherever the Indians went to reservations they could only stay for five years and then had to remove themselves west of the Mississippi.
It wasn't until after 1836 that the Indians learned that Washington lawmakers spoke with "forked tongues" and the government broke their own treaty in 1837. The sounds of war drums beating at night, the glows of bonfires and angry distant voices worried settlers. The five year reservation occupation was never ratified with the Indians. The treaty was amended by Congress after the Indians signed the treaty papers. Those Indians who fought against the chiefs voiced their anger louder at the chiefs who signed the treaty. Word of broken treaty spread like wildfire among the tribes and those tribes that didn't sign the treaty refused to leave. The U.S. Army was dispatched with cannons in tow into the Michigan wilderness. It was a defensive move by President Andrew Jackson to make settlements feel safer. Ottawa leaders vehemently opposed the Senate amendment without their knowledge of the treaty change.
Thousands of Indians would remain as free roaming hunters and fishemen supporting individual groups of family members until 1860. They refused to leave and most settlers weren't going to pressure the Indians to leave or start a range war. Most of the early land sales were to speculators hoping to sell the timber rights. The lumber barons and speculators insisted the government had no right to let the Indians stay on reservation land, because that land had the richest timber on them and they wanted to harvest it. The great landsales for lands north of the Grand River began in 1839, but it wasn't until the mid 1840's that the Indians saw and influx of new settlers.
After a few years of Wabasis reportedly hoarding Blackskin and Ottawa annuity payments it was apparent that Wabasis' respect had fallen off sharply amongst certain tribes. Some declared that since he wasn't giving them their fair share of gold and silver they need to curtail his movements so they banished him to living on his 40-acre garden plot on the western shores of Wabasis Lake. To leave meant any Grand River valley Indian who didn't like him could kill him (death warrant if he strayed). Wabasis' wife and children could come and go as they pleased, but he was supposed to remain at his farm.
The Indians believe Wabasis buried his treasure trove on that 40-acre ancestral farm and he had full access to the limestone caves. These caves in the park were sealed to prevent spelunkers from exploring them. Wabasis reportedly always had money on his person and would jiggle it in his hands whenever settlers or Indians visited his homestead. He was banished to live here and was supposed to never go beyond Spring Creek, which flows into Wabasis Lake, however, what they actually said was he was "to remain on his parcel, but go no further than one mile from his homestead when hunting or fishing." They wanted to bottle him up. Over the last 150 years since his death, this legend has been shrunk so that only treasure hunters search by daylight or lantern light near Wabasis Park.
Disappointed and disgruntled the Blackskins protested loudly to Wabasis who kept insisting, "That's all there is, there isn't anymore!" Those who didn't like Wabasis after that exiled him and put a death warrant on his head and any Indian could kill him if he left his farm. Kewaycooshcum had just been murdered in 1839 north of Grand Rapids at the mouth of Coldbrook Creek (south of Leonard St. in GR). This stream receives its water from the overflow drainage of Fisk and Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids (it flows northwest). His body placed inside a crib in a sitting position, his head above ground looking south over the river valley he sold in 1821.
Chief Neogamah of Prairie Village and Chief Mucatasha (Mucatay) of the Blackskins in Montcalm County passed judgement on Chief Wabasis, which prohibited Wabasis from leaving his Wabasis Lake farm. No longer could he visit with friends, that's white or red men who highly respected him. For a man who reportedly hoarded the wealth of others he lived a simple life. He never flaunted any wealth and his wife and children had only their share of the funds. The Blackskins reportedly watched Wabasis trying to discover his hiding place, but they were seemingly lousy observationists since Wabasis escaped many times (12 times) till about 1850 to pick up his share of annuity payments and those of his family and return unharmed by accident, illness or design.
Wabasis exposed himself many times to the diseases ravaging Native Indians near Whitneyville in 1845. Chief Shonago was moving his Potawotomie tribe of 300-400 souls southward towards to Missouri, but instead the tribe was suffering from Black Tongue Disease. It was another disease encountered from white settlers and it reduced the tribe to 200 in a matter of weeks and within a month only 50 were left and they were sent to the Indian reservation at Mt. Pleasant.
Black Tongue disease is caused by insufficient oral hygiene (not brushing teeth). Its caused by overuse of tobacco products and drinking too much witch hazel herbal tea. The tongue grows hair (causes excessive gagging) and back then the tongue got raw and bled and since the Indians didn't have immunity to settler diseases this illness just ransacked their blood and immune systems causing death. Black tongue disease is spread by insufficient brushing of teeth, even today. It is treated with the use of antibiotics in people who chew tobacco. Witch hazel herbal tea is good for the body, but only in lesser amounts. The Indians used the herbal tea to combat Black Tongue disease, but in higher concentrations it makes people sick, too.
Half-breeds received their special payments for ten years, but Wabasis received family shares, inheritances and investments his entire life. He once owned all the islands in the Flat River who he acquired as inheritances from Wobwindigo and Cobmoosa. When he did return from journeys it was without any large sums of money. Where did it go? He came back with little money and supplies.
Over 150 years the legend and size of Wabasis' lost treasure has increased his 'POT of GOLD', but the government switched from gold to silver before 1847, because there was a government shortage of gold coinage. Still in over 150 years 'no pot or kettle of treasure' has ever been found - tangible proof of its existence and yet the treasure hunters still search for Wabasis' lost pot or kettle of treasure. Wabasis' travels were inside the 'triangle of treasure' that ran from Grand Rapids to Sheridan, to Ionia and back to Grand Rapids. The bulk of the treasure doesn't reside at Wabasis Lake, but somewhere between Prairie Village (Blythefield Country Club) and Wabasis Lake along the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail. Where? As I said, repeating Wabasis' tale for 150 years is far removed from accuracy. Storytelling repeatedly embellishes (polishes) the legend. The brightness blinds treasure hunters.
The legend (150 year rumor) has Wabasis burying a huge kettle along the banks of Wabasis Creek or around the shore of Wabasis Lake, when in fact Wabasis real banishment area was that he couldn't go beyond one mile from its shore. Within this area are many limestone caves and eight lakes that have many limestone crevices. One should never concentrate on Wabasis treasure as being strictly golden. Don't forget to add 'silver' to that pot of treasure.
Wabasis escaped his death sentence for 24 years and the remaining Blackskins decided that after these lost years it was apparent that they'd never receive their share of the money so they conspired to kill him after they tricked him into going to a Green Corn Dance at Prairie Village, but few Indians showed up. Only Wabasis' family still resided on Stephen Towers property at Wabasis Lake. Wabasis wasn't murdered along the Coldwater River, but Rum Creek in Kent County. Chief Neogamah and Mucktasha... oops, got to go...so ask yourself until next time if the treasure isn't buried near Wabasis Lake where might it be hidden? The legend is askew bigtime. You don't want to miss blog #130.
Many people believe he kept the different tribal shares, but he couldn't because each head of families was supposed to appear in person to pick up the family share - not the tribal share. When he returned home the Blackskins were insistant that he wasn't giving them enough money and each time Wabasis insisted 'this is all you get.' Well the Indians began to accuse him of hoarding their share and each time Wabasis insisted they didn't get so much because under the treaty agreement they had to prosper themselves instead of loafing and panhandling incoming settlers for handouts. This treaty was going to make sure that the Indians who lived according to how they were taught by the missionaries by investing in businesses and agriculture practices; farming, etc. would get the money. The Blackskins northeast of Wabasis Lake were known by many settlers as loafers and derelicts and didn't follow the treaty guidelines. These were the renegades who previously didn't want to sign the treaty.
Henry Schoolcraft, the Indian agent afloat had the discretion to award larger sums of money, but only to those the Chiefs said deserved the annuity payments. Schoolcraft reported his finding each year about those Indians they found disserving and the President could deny compensation to all Indians who didn't meet the expectations of the treaty language. Indian payments were further delayed to some because when diseases began killing the Indians individual tribes and families left with no known forwarding address. According to the Treaty of 1836, that's when the Indians signed it at Traverse City in Sept. 1836, no formal preparations were available for Indian removal, yet theoritic plans were for all those north of the Grand River to move west of the Mississippi. Many chose to go further north and settle on reservation land at Pentwater, Manistee, Traverse, or Mt. Pleasant.
However when some Indians got their first annuity payments they began investing their newly gotten gains in settler enterprises; steamboats and freighting businesses, and some purchased back their own individual pieces of land south of the Grand River. After everything was settled Congress got wind of the purchases and declared that wherever the Indians went to reservations they could only stay for five years and then had to remove themselves west of the Mississippi.
It wasn't until after 1836 that the Indians learned that Washington lawmakers spoke with "forked tongues" and the government broke their own treaty in 1837. The sounds of war drums beating at night, the glows of bonfires and angry distant voices worried settlers. The five year reservation occupation was never ratified with the Indians. The treaty was amended by Congress after the Indians signed the treaty papers. Those Indians who fought against the chiefs voiced their anger louder at the chiefs who signed the treaty. Word of broken treaty spread like wildfire among the tribes and those tribes that didn't sign the treaty refused to leave. The U.S. Army was dispatched with cannons in tow into the Michigan wilderness. It was a defensive move by President Andrew Jackson to make settlements feel safer. Ottawa leaders vehemently opposed the Senate amendment without their knowledge of the treaty change.
Thousands of Indians would remain as free roaming hunters and fishemen supporting individual groups of family members until 1860. They refused to leave and most settlers weren't going to pressure the Indians to leave or start a range war. Most of the early land sales were to speculators hoping to sell the timber rights. The lumber barons and speculators insisted the government had no right to let the Indians stay on reservation land, because that land had the richest timber on them and they wanted to harvest it. The great landsales for lands north of the Grand River began in 1839, but it wasn't until the mid 1840's that the Indians saw and influx of new settlers.
After a few years of Wabasis reportedly hoarding Blackskin and Ottawa annuity payments it was apparent that Wabasis' respect had fallen off sharply amongst certain tribes. Some declared that since he wasn't giving them their fair share of gold and silver they need to curtail his movements so they banished him to living on his 40-acre garden plot on the western shores of Wabasis Lake. To leave meant any Grand River valley Indian who didn't like him could kill him (death warrant if he strayed). Wabasis' wife and children could come and go as they pleased, but he was supposed to remain at his farm.
The Indians believe Wabasis buried his treasure trove on that 40-acre ancestral farm and he had full access to the limestone caves. These caves in the park were sealed to prevent spelunkers from exploring them. Wabasis reportedly always had money on his person and would jiggle it in his hands whenever settlers or Indians visited his homestead. He was banished to live here and was supposed to never go beyond Spring Creek, which flows into Wabasis Lake, however, what they actually said was he was "to remain on his parcel, but go no further than one mile from his homestead when hunting or fishing." They wanted to bottle him up. Over the last 150 years since his death, this legend has been shrunk so that only treasure hunters search by daylight or lantern light near Wabasis Park.
Disappointed and disgruntled the Blackskins protested loudly to Wabasis who kept insisting, "That's all there is, there isn't anymore!" Those who didn't like Wabasis after that exiled him and put a death warrant on his head and any Indian could kill him if he left his farm. Kewaycooshcum had just been murdered in 1839 north of Grand Rapids at the mouth of Coldbrook Creek (south of Leonard St. in GR). This stream receives its water from the overflow drainage of Fisk and Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids (it flows northwest). His body placed inside a crib in a sitting position, his head above ground looking south over the river valley he sold in 1821.
Chief Neogamah of Prairie Village and Chief Mucatasha (Mucatay) of the Blackskins in Montcalm County passed judgement on Chief Wabasis, which prohibited Wabasis from leaving his Wabasis Lake farm. No longer could he visit with friends, that's white or red men who highly respected him. For a man who reportedly hoarded the wealth of others he lived a simple life. He never flaunted any wealth and his wife and children had only their share of the funds. The Blackskins reportedly watched Wabasis trying to discover his hiding place, but they were seemingly lousy observationists since Wabasis escaped many times (12 times) till about 1850 to pick up his share of annuity payments and those of his family and return unharmed by accident, illness or design.
Wabasis exposed himself many times to the diseases ravaging Native Indians near Whitneyville in 1845. Chief Shonago was moving his Potawotomie tribe of 300-400 souls southward towards to Missouri, but instead the tribe was suffering from Black Tongue Disease. It was another disease encountered from white settlers and it reduced the tribe to 200 in a matter of weeks and within a month only 50 were left and they were sent to the Indian reservation at Mt. Pleasant.
Black Tongue disease is caused by insufficient oral hygiene (not brushing teeth). Its caused by overuse of tobacco products and drinking too much witch hazel herbal tea. The tongue grows hair (causes excessive gagging) and back then the tongue got raw and bled and since the Indians didn't have immunity to settler diseases this illness just ransacked their blood and immune systems causing death. Black tongue disease is spread by insufficient brushing of teeth, even today. It is treated with the use of antibiotics in people who chew tobacco. Witch hazel herbal tea is good for the body, but only in lesser amounts. The Indians used the herbal tea to combat Black Tongue disease, but in higher concentrations it makes people sick, too.
Half-breeds received their special payments for ten years, but Wabasis received family shares, inheritances and investments his entire life. He once owned all the islands in the Flat River who he acquired as inheritances from Wobwindigo and Cobmoosa. When he did return from journeys it was without any large sums of money. Where did it go? He came back with little money and supplies.
Over 150 years the legend and size of Wabasis' lost treasure has increased his 'POT of GOLD', but the government switched from gold to silver before 1847, because there was a government shortage of gold coinage. Still in over 150 years 'no pot or kettle of treasure' has ever been found - tangible proof of its existence and yet the treasure hunters still search for Wabasis' lost pot or kettle of treasure. Wabasis' travels were inside the 'triangle of treasure' that ran from Grand Rapids to Sheridan, to Ionia and back to Grand Rapids. The bulk of the treasure doesn't reside at Wabasis Lake, but somewhere between Prairie Village (Blythefield Country Club) and Wabasis Lake along the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail. Where? As I said, repeating Wabasis' tale for 150 years is far removed from accuracy. Storytelling repeatedly embellishes (polishes) the legend. The brightness blinds treasure hunters.
The legend (150 year rumor) has Wabasis burying a huge kettle along the banks of Wabasis Creek or around the shore of Wabasis Lake, when in fact Wabasis real banishment area was that he couldn't go beyond one mile from its shore. Within this area are many limestone caves and eight lakes that have many limestone crevices. One should never concentrate on Wabasis treasure as being strictly golden. Don't forget to add 'silver' to that pot of treasure.
Wabasis escaped his death sentence for 24 years and the remaining Blackskins decided that after these lost years it was apparent that they'd never receive their share of the money so they conspired to kill him after they tricked him into going to a Green Corn Dance at Prairie Village, but few Indians showed up. Only Wabasis' family still resided on Stephen Towers property at Wabasis Lake. Wabasis wasn't murdered along the Coldwater River, but Rum Creek in Kent County. Chief Neogamah and Mucktasha... oops, got to go...so ask yourself until next time if the treasure isn't buried near Wabasis Lake where might it be hidden? The legend is askew bigtime. You don't want to miss blog #130.
Monday, December 27, 2010
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 128
Watching from the high bluffs at Prairie Village John Wabasis watched a flotilla of rafts and long Indian canoes coming down the Grand River. Soon the Grand River valley chiefs would come ashore and he waited with anticipation to learn if indeed the chiefs agreed with Washington to sign the Treaty of 1836. He had fought valiantly to keep the Indians from starting any wars with incoming settlers. It became a bitter sweet reunion when several half-breeds objected to the chiefs agreement with President Andrew Jackson. They fumed with anger and told the chiefs loudly of their disapproval, but Chief Wobwindigo told them they got the best deal with Washington. Tempers flared around the bonefires at tribal councils, but cooler heads of Wabasis and Boshaw kept the hotheads from causing problems.
The Chiefs told them a census was to be taken of every man, woman and child, and the relationships to tribal leaders for they would get more money depending on the heirachy within the families. The chiefs would get more than the rest and educated half-breeds it turned out would receive more money than chiefs for services rendered for keeping peace with incoming settlers, but how much they received was at the discretion of the Chiefs and President.
It was a hot summer. Plenty of disagreements and the weather was meaner than normal. Violent storms racked the state. More than 200 tornadoes ravaged western Michigan in 1836. Everywhere the Indians went they witnessed the natural destruction and those Indians who were superstitious thought the Great Spirit was angered, because the Chiefs signed the treaty signing away the lands of their ancestors. The destruction seen caused many tribes to become nomads - strangers in unfamiliar lands. It wouldn't be long before they would have to remove themselves from the Grand River valley. Washington would only give them five years to removed themselves to far away reservations and so the Treaty of 1836 was signed September 28, 1836 by 25 tribal leaders out of the estimated 100 tribes north of the Grand River in Michigan and Wisconsin. It was thought the Grand River valley Indians, the southern most tribes, were the strongest tribes. Winning them over would "guarantee" the hearts of the minor majority. Incoming settler wouldn't have reason to fear the Ottawas and Chippewas.
The Indians thought they had got the best deal, but Wabasis soon learned that wasn't the case. The Indians thought the government was going to pay lumps sums to just the Chiefs who would dispense individual payments to their people, but while they argued at tribal council meeting Congress in 1834 changed the way Indian were paid. Yes, the chiefs got lump sum payments (rich amounts) but so too, were head of the families to dispense money within their own unit. Each family head was expected to travel to the annual Indian Annuity Payment location each Spring. The Indians didn't know this until May 1837 when Wabasis arrived to pick up his money.
Because Wabasis was so well respected in 1836 shortly after signing of the treaty many of the Grand River chiefs elected Wabasis to pick up their shares, but the government refused to turn over other tribal money to him. They reasoned why should they all travel when the government handed out money to chiefs, but over the winter 1836-1837 the government hit a snag. Although the chiefs returned to their people they also brought in an abundance of white man diseases and again "death lurked in the shadows" and many would succumb to cholera, small pox, measles, chicken poxes and tuberculosis and the abundance of firewater and tobacco made things worse.
Thousands of Indians perished after the Dexter Party arrived in Grand Rapids in 1833. It seems that sickness was everywhere and before the first 1836 Indian annuity payment was paid out in May 1837 nearly one-third of the remaining Indian population had died. Squaws wailed in darkness as each family member passed away. The night skies were illuminated with the bonfires at Indian cemeteries. Chief Wobwindigo's was not immune to the sickness. He died before he could collect his first payment, but his share would be passed down to his sons; Shonago, Acango and Anish and adopted son Wabasis. Many in Wobwindigo's village departed, too, anyplace where the whitemans sickness hadn't reached.
Now all the chiefs who went to Washington returned and seeded the tribes with whiteman germs. Fear ran rampant among the tribes and tribes that weren't affected quickly dissapated; they simply left for unknown regions or they showed up at a reservation west of the Mississippi or farther north in Michigan. In June 1837), the the Ottawa Indians at Grand Rapids saw the first launching of a Steamboat called the "Governor Mason", but it was Chief Macitawsa (Macatawa) and Mexinini who loaned James Short approximately $2000 from their Indian payment the previous month to give Richard Godfry, the vessel owner money to purchase a boiler and engine.
Upon arrival and departure from Grand Rapids the Mason's bugler blasted his horn, which could be heard up and down the river. It was so loud the sound echoed up the valleys and into the woods and it caused much fear in Indians and settlers until they knew what the sound meant. It meant that soon Grand Rapids would be busting at the seams with commerce and a staggering influx of incoming settlers. The Governor Mason would be strictly a riverboat ferrying supplies up and down the river until May 1840 when it ran aground on a sand bar near the mouth of the river and was smashed to oblivion by giant waves during a sudden thunderstorm.
In 1838, the second steamer arrived known to the Indians as "Owashtenong" and "Poorhouse" to settlers. Two more steamers were plying the Grand River, the Patronage and the John Almy. The Indians camped still at Wobwindigo's village watched as the John Almy upon her maiden voyage struck an underwater object at the mouth of the Flat River and sank. That same summer, the State Legislature appropriated $30,000 to clear underwater obstructions (logs and channel boulders from Grand Haven to Lyons. After that Chief Shonago realized that his tribe must leave so they went further south and they knew it wouldn't be long before they'd have to remove themselves to west Mississippi reservations. Still there was no big hurry to leave.
Next time I'll start at 1838. Good morning! I've given you an "inkling' of what the powerful chiefs got for Indian annuity payments. So how much could have Wabasis amassed over twenty years if he was paid higher than Chiefs?
The Chiefs told them a census was to be taken of every man, woman and child, and the relationships to tribal leaders for they would get more money depending on the heirachy within the families. The chiefs would get more than the rest and educated half-breeds it turned out would receive more money than chiefs for services rendered for keeping peace with incoming settlers, but how much they received was at the discretion of the Chiefs and President.
It was a hot summer. Plenty of disagreements and the weather was meaner than normal. Violent storms racked the state. More than 200 tornadoes ravaged western Michigan in 1836. Everywhere the Indians went they witnessed the natural destruction and those Indians who were superstitious thought the Great Spirit was angered, because the Chiefs signed the treaty signing away the lands of their ancestors. The destruction seen caused many tribes to become nomads - strangers in unfamiliar lands. It wouldn't be long before they would have to remove themselves from the Grand River valley. Washington would only give them five years to removed themselves to far away reservations and so the Treaty of 1836 was signed September 28, 1836 by 25 tribal leaders out of the estimated 100 tribes north of the Grand River in Michigan and Wisconsin. It was thought the Grand River valley Indians, the southern most tribes, were the strongest tribes. Winning them over would "guarantee" the hearts of the minor majority. Incoming settler wouldn't have reason to fear the Ottawas and Chippewas.
The Indians thought they had got the best deal, but Wabasis soon learned that wasn't the case. The Indians thought the government was going to pay lumps sums to just the Chiefs who would dispense individual payments to their people, but while they argued at tribal council meeting Congress in 1834 changed the way Indian were paid. Yes, the chiefs got lump sum payments (rich amounts) but so too, were head of the families to dispense money within their own unit. Each family head was expected to travel to the annual Indian Annuity Payment location each Spring. The Indians didn't know this until May 1837 when Wabasis arrived to pick up his money.
Because Wabasis was so well respected in 1836 shortly after signing of the treaty many of the Grand River chiefs elected Wabasis to pick up their shares, but the government refused to turn over other tribal money to him. They reasoned why should they all travel when the government handed out money to chiefs, but over the winter 1836-1837 the government hit a snag. Although the chiefs returned to their people they also brought in an abundance of white man diseases and again "death lurked in the shadows" and many would succumb to cholera, small pox, measles, chicken poxes and tuberculosis and the abundance of firewater and tobacco made things worse.
Thousands of Indians perished after the Dexter Party arrived in Grand Rapids in 1833. It seems that sickness was everywhere and before the first 1836 Indian annuity payment was paid out in May 1837 nearly one-third of the remaining Indian population had died. Squaws wailed in darkness as each family member passed away. The night skies were illuminated with the bonfires at Indian cemeteries. Chief Wobwindigo's was not immune to the sickness. He died before he could collect his first payment, but his share would be passed down to his sons; Shonago, Acango and Anish and adopted son Wabasis. Many in Wobwindigo's village departed, too, anyplace where the whitemans sickness hadn't reached.
Now all the chiefs who went to Washington returned and seeded the tribes with whiteman germs. Fear ran rampant among the tribes and tribes that weren't affected quickly dissapated; they simply left for unknown regions or they showed up at a reservation west of the Mississippi or farther north in Michigan. In June 1837), the the Ottawa Indians at Grand Rapids saw the first launching of a Steamboat called the "Governor Mason", but it was Chief Macitawsa (Macatawa) and Mexinini who loaned James Short approximately $2000 from their Indian payment the previous month to give Richard Godfry, the vessel owner money to purchase a boiler and engine.
Upon arrival and departure from Grand Rapids the Mason's bugler blasted his horn, which could be heard up and down the river. It was so loud the sound echoed up the valleys and into the woods and it caused much fear in Indians and settlers until they knew what the sound meant. It meant that soon Grand Rapids would be busting at the seams with commerce and a staggering influx of incoming settlers. The Governor Mason would be strictly a riverboat ferrying supplies up and down the river until May 1840 when it ran aground on a sand bar near the mouth of the river and was smashed to oblivion by giant waves during a sudden thunderstorm.
In 1838, the second steamer arrived known to the Indians as "Owashtenong" and "Poorhouse" to settlers. Two more steamers were plying the Grand River, the Patronage and the John Almy. The Indians camped still at Wobwindigo's village watched as the John Almy upon her maiden voyage struck an underwater object at the mouth of the Flat River and sank. That same summer, the State Legislature appropriated $30,000 to clear underwater obstructions (logs and channel boulders from Grand Haven to Lyons. After that Chief Shonago realized that his tribe must leave so they went further south and they knew it wouldn't be long before they'd have to remove themselves to west Mississippi reservations. Still there was no big hurry to leave.
Next time I'll start at 1838. Good morning! I've given you an "inkling' of what the powerful chiefs got for Indian annuity payments. So how much could have Wabasis amassed over twenty years if he was paid higher than Chiefs?
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 127
Sub-chief John Wabasis waited patiently for Chief Wobwindego's return from Washington. As a previous treaty signer surely Kewaycooshcum, another educated Indian could maintain civility among the chiefs while in the presence of President Andrew Jackson. Kewaycooschcum was impressed with Gen. Lewis Cass and both men treated each other and Congress with mutual respect. Wabasis' future looked promising. He had gained stature within the Ottawa tribes at council meetings in 1834-1835 as the peacemaker. Very seldom did he lash out when things looked darkest, but instead looked for the good of many and not just himself. It was important to serve others and maintaining his own identity within the various tribes. He gained favor among the chiefs and for that he would be amply rewarded as the richest treasure chief.
Standing on the knoll overlooking the Grand River valley in the fall of 1835 he couldn't help wondering how many years were left for visiting the graves of their ancestors. That fall nearly 3000 Native Americans comprised of Chippewas, Ottawas and remaining Potawatomies gathered at Plainfield's Prairie Village to celebrate the Feast of the Corn Dance. Each day more and more Indians arrived from all directions; by canoe river travel or land trails, such as the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail or Newaygo Trail. After the council meetings they'd go their separate ways to celebrate the "Feast of the Dead", which was an event similar to "Christian All Soul's Day."
Before the Indians left they would hunt and fish so they would have enough food to feed their people and the departed spirits for Gee-bwa-gezhick meaning "Feast of the Dead" celebrated the second of November each year. On this day each tribe went to their respective Indian cemeteries to place wooden crosses over the dead. 'Crows' are said to roost in the vicinity of Indian graves. Each Indian family would go and take care of their own graves. Kewaycooshcum and Cobmoosa visited Potawotomie grave yards south of the Grand River. They maintained Indian graves until about 1860. Cobmoosa left in 1860-61 for the Pentwater Reservation.
Wabasis couldn't help but wonder how long it'd be before area Indians would be forced to reservations, too, but what mattered more to him was that his Indian friends, relatives and settlers wouldn't die needlessly and he also knew the government was going to pay them for their lands with annual payments, but he was unsure how much. Still he had gained the respect of two settlers named Michael Smith and Andrew House who built log houses just outside of Prairie Village. He visited both frequently on his journeys to council meetings.
Wabasis had much respect for Smith and House. Andrew's son James grew up with Native American Indians all around them. His children regarded the Indian children as friends and vice versa. They were almost inseparable (blood pals) and the House's built there cabin about a mile away from Prairie Village and they could see it. Blythefield Country Club of today was once Prairie Village. Standing outside of the House's front door Wabasis and House watched as the sky glowed a brilliant orange as the bonfires in the cemeteries grew larger. Smoke from burnt meat offerings tossed into the fire filled the cool nighttime air. Feeding the "Spirits of the Dead" was the yearly ritual they celebrated, but which Rev. Isaac McCoy frowned upon. Both men listened to the drum beating, the chanting and the silhouettes of Indians dancing around the graves while others in distant cemeteries poured whiskey and beer over the ground in the graveyards to give the "spirits a drink".
Wabasis told the story about how some Indian friends living as white settlers in a log cabin fed the children first, the adults eating last, then praying, singing songs they learned and dancing into the wee hours of the night. Before retiring for the evening the woman within would reset the table and leave food out all night for the departed spirits to eat. Many years later James House said the Indian children would tell him different versions of how they celebrated "Ghost Suppers", but they too, were ceremonies to "honor their dead."
Throughout the entire region the Indians would gather together to hold hands, offer prayers and continue with ceremonial singing accompanied by a fantastic feast to feed the spirits of the dead. The Indians would sit around the bonfires and smoke the sacred pipes as the "shamans" or the greatest of medicine men within the tribes would resort to trickery to create ghosts or sightings of ghosts of long departed spirits that rose in the smoke of the dwindling fires.
By the time James House was seven years old he fluently spoke Chippewa and Ottawa languages, but that's what happens when all your friends are Indians and the Indian children were educated in English. Anyone who learned the Algonquian language could travel freely for a thousand miles and didn't need to fear the Indians. James and Wabasis would tell you that although their was never any bloodshed between Indians and settlers there was bloodshed during a decisive Indian battle between remaining area Chippewas and a band of Snakeheads (Shawnee war party from central Illinois) in which the Snakes were severely beaten. The Shawnees were at War with most of the tribes that signed any peace treaties with Washington.
The Honey Creek/Ramsdell Road in Ada, Cannon and Oakfield Township was a Sioux/Sauk War Trail to Saginaw Bay and Skull's Island, but this was prior to the 1800's. James House witnessed the 1837 massacre about a half-mile north of Prairie Village (where the Plainfield Christian Reformed Church is today and an even bigger battle was in the vicinity of the Rockford High School complex before 1800). Indians fought Indians when the tribes didn't agree with treaties signed with Washington. Those white settlers whose children grew up with Indian children learned to never fear them. They learned to respect the views of others and to live peacefully whether black, red or white skinned. Each year James House watched as the Indians returned to the Plainfield area to celebrate "Feast of the Dead". Those that witnessed these ceremonies grew up accustomed to the cultures and ways of life and those that learned to respect the Indians found them useful in their later years as the settlers rushed westward.
Wabasis probably had tears in his eyes, too, just like Kewaycooshcum and Cobmoosa did when they realized it wouldn't be too long before the fall bonfires would be extinguished for good in the Plainfield Prairie Village area. The orangish-red glow in the dark night sky illuminating the graves of their dead would cease within ten years. Wabasis would live to see darker night skies each fall. In the spring of 1859 several thousand Ottawas - tribes in the Grand River valley left by canoe down the river. A U.S. government ship transpoted them to Pentwater from Grand Haven. Upon landing at Pentwater the Indians could choose their own 40-80 acre parcels for permanent occupancy. Single men got 40 acres, the heads of families 80 acres per the Treaty of 1855. They must be gone from the Grand River at the close of 1860. This is why the mass exodus.
Those that remained after the Treaty of 1836 was signed and didn't leave were forced to remove themselves after they signed the Treaty of 1855, which stipulated they must leave for reservations at Pentwater within five years. These were free-roaming trapping and hunting Indians. No longer did the orangish-red bonfires glow in the night sky in Kent and Montcalm areas in 1860. The "Ghost Suppers" northwest of Rockford ceased as did the "Feasts of the Dead" in Algoma Township's Hoskins Lake and Indian Lakes area, Half-Moon and Wabasis Lake areas. John Wabasis and a small band of other Ottawas remained, but so too, did a small band of 10-12 war-like Blackskins, the same Indians who threatend Wabasis with death. They lived a few mile northeast of Wabasis. One of them conspired to trick Wabasis into leaving his garden plot to kill him in 1863.
Wobwindigo and all the other Grand River valley chiefs returned in the late Spring of 1836. Wabasis spent many nights pondering if his peaceful negotations paid off and they did. It was a bitter-sweet return for the chiefs told of their Washington exploits, but many half-breeds were angry that the chiefs signed the Treaty of 1836 in March and formally in (September) and the uneducated were angered more when they learned they had to leave for the reservations west of the Mississippi.
No appropriations were made for Ottawas to remain in the land of their fathers and they couldn't understand why they must be enumerated. To receive annual payments they all had to be registered on a census - every man, woman and child before they'd receive payments in gold and silver starting in May 1837. This made the Indians fearful. They assumed they would be given equal shares as in the previous treaties, but the way in which Indians were paid changed in 1834.
Next time I'll we'll start in May 1836 with the return of Wobwindigo, Mexicini, Noonday, etc.
Standing on the knoll overlooking the Grand River valley in the fall of 1835 he couldn't help wondering how many years were left for visiting the graves of their ancestors. That fall nearly 3000 Native Americans comprised of Chippewas, Ottawas and remaining Potawatomies gathered at Plainfield's Prairie Village to celebrate the Feast of the Corn Dance. Each day more and more Indians arrived from all directions; by canoe river travel or land trails, such as the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail or Newaygo Trail. After the council meetings they'd go their separate ways to celebrate the "Feast of the Dead", which was an event similar to "Christian All Soul's Day."
Before the Indians left they would hunt and fish so they would have enough food to feed their people and the departed spirits for Gee-bwa-gezhick meaning "Feast of the Dead" celebrated the second of November each year. On this day each tribe went to their respective Indian cemeteries to place wooden crosses over the dead. 'Crows' are said to roost in the vicinity of Indian graves. Each Indian family would go and take care of their own graves. Kewaycooshcum and Cobmoosa visited Potawotomie grave yards south of the Grand River. They maintained Indian graves until about 1860. Cobmoosa left in 1860-61 for the Pentwater Reservation.
Wabasis couldn't help but wonder how long it'd be before area Indians would be forced to reservations, too, but what mattered more to him was that his Indian friends, relatives and settlers wouldn't die needlessly and he also knew the government was going to pay them for their lands with annual payments, but he was unsure how much. Still he had gained the respect of two settlers named Michael Smith and Andrew House who built log houses just outside of Prairie Village. He visited both frequently on his journeys to council meetings.
Wabasis had much respect for Smith and House. Andrew's son James grew up with Native American Indians all around them. His children regarded the Indian children as friends and vice versa. They were almost inseparable (blood pals) and the House's built there cabin about a mile away from Prairie Village and they could see it. Blythefield Country Club of today was once Prairie Village. Standing outside of the House's front door Wabasis and House watched as the sky glowed a brilliant orange as the bonfires in the cemeteries grew larger. Smoke from burnt meat offerings tossed into the fire filled the cool nighttime air. Feeding the "Spirits of the Dead" was the yearly ritual they celebrated, but which Rev. Isaac McCoy frowned upon. Both men listened to the drum beating, the chanting and the silhouettes of Indians dancing around the graves while others in distant cemeteries poured whiskey and beer over the ground in the graveyards to give the "spirits a drink".
Wabasis told the story about how some Indian friends living as white settlers in a log cabin fed the children first, the adults eating last, then praying, singing songs they learned and dancing into the wee hours of the night. Before retiring for the evening the woman within would reset the table and leave food out all night for the departed spirits to eat. Many years later James House said the Indian children would tell him different versions of how they celebrated "Ghost Suppers", but they too, were ceremonies to "honor their dead."
Throughout the entire region the Indians would gather together to hold hands, offer prayers and continue with ceremonial singing accompanied by a fantastic feast to feed the spirits of the dead. The Indians would sit around the bonfires and smoke the sacred pipes as the "shamans" or the greatest of medicine men within the tribes would resort to trickery to create ghosts or sightings of ghosts of long departed spirits that rose in the smoke of the dwindling fires.
By the time James House was seven years old he fluently spoke Chippewa and Ottawa languages, but that's what happens when all your friends are Indians and the Indian children were educated in English. Anyone who learned the Algonquian language could travel freely for a thousand miles and didn't need to fear the Indians. James and Wabasis would tell you that although their was never any bloodshed between Indians and settlers there was bloodshed during a decisive Indian battle between remaining area Chippewas and a band of Snakeheads (Shawnee war party from central Illinois) in which the Snakes were severely beaten. The Shawnees were at War with most of the tribes that signed any peace treaties with Washington.
The Honey Creek/Ramsdell Road in Ada, Cannon and Oakfield Township was a Sioux/Sauk War Trail to Saginaw Bay and Skull's Island, but this was prior to the 1800's. James House witnessed the 1837 massacre about a half-mile north of Prairie Village (where the Plainfield Christian Reformed Church is today and an even bigger battle was in the vicinity of the Rockford High School complex before 1800). Indians fought Indians when the tribes didn't agree with treaties signed with Washington. Those white settlers whose children grew up with Indian children learned to never fear them. They learned to respect the views of others and to live peacefully whether black, red or white skinned. Each year James House watched as the Indians returned to the Plainfield area to celebrate "Feast of the Dead". Those that witnessed these ceremonies grew up accustomed to the cultures and ways of life and those that learned to respect the Indians found them useful in their later years as the settlers rushed westward.
Wabasis probably had tears in his eyes, too, just like Kewaycooshcum and Cobmoosa did when they realized it wouldn't be too long before the fall bonfires would be extinguished for good in the Plainfield Prairie Village area. The orangish-red glow in the dark night sky illuminating the graves of their dead would cease within ten years. Wabasis would live to see darker night skies each fall. In the spring of 1859 several thousand Ottawas - tribes in the Grand River valley left by canoe down the river. A U.S. government ship transpoted them to Pentwater from Grand Haven. Upon landing at Pentwater the Indians could choose their own 40-80 acre parcels for permanent occupancy. Single men got 40 acres, the heads of families 80 acres per the Treaty of 1855. They must be gone from the Grand River at the close of 1860. This is why the mass exodus.
Those that remained after the Treaty of 1836 was signed and didn't leave were forced to remove themselves after they signed the Treaty of 1855, which stipulated they must leave for reservations at Pentwater within five years. These were free-roaming trapping and hunting Indians. No longer did the orangish-red bonfires glow in the night sky in Kent and Montcalm areas in 1860. The "Ghost Suppers" northwest of Rockford ceased as did the "Feasts of the Dead" in Algoma Township's Hoskins Lake and Indian Lakes area, Half-Moon and Wabasis Lake areas. John Wabasis and a small band of other Ottawas remained, but so too, did a small band of 10-12 war-like Blackskins, the same Indians who threatend Wabasis with death. They lived a few mile northeast of Wabasis. One of them conspired to trick Wabasis into leaving his garden plot to kill him in 1863.
Wobwindigo and all the other Grand River valley chiefs returned in the late Spring of 1836. Wabasis spent many nights pondering if his peaceful negotations paid off and they did. It was a bitter-sweet return for the chiefs told of their Washington exploits, but many half-breeds were angry that the chiefs signed the Treaty of 1836 in March and formally in (September) and the uneducated were angered more when they learned they had to leave for the reservations west of the Mississippi.
No appropriations were made for Ottawas to remain in the land of their fathers and they couldn't understand why they must be enumerated. To receive annual payments they all had to be registered on a census - every man, woman and child before they'd receive payments in gold and silver starting in May 1837. This made the Indians fearful. They assumed they would be given equal shares as in the previous treaties, but the way in which Indians were paid changed in 1834.
Next time I'll we'll start in May 1836 with the return of Wobwindigo, Mexicini, Noonday, etc.
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