Show ovig 60 ag e ni 4 q I 1 I 1 nm 1 7 U 7 1 I 12 7 a v 1 V 2 p V k M ki OF i 1 J g I 1 I 1 I 1 P t t k 1 i 1 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 SL D t t jk c m AAA I 1 J L OST THE tha HOME OP OF CHIEF POKAGON A AND N D H HIS IS SAND D j not n trat of ahe old town Is lett left good indian who ruled HIS hl tribe in southern michigan HI hu start was wa broken I 1 4 if I 1 EHRIEN county Is the site odthe of the last FB pf af the O m I 1 e vl v t liades in n southern Michi michigan gun says the detroit free press it was I 1 the home of old chief pokagon and his band and the birthplace of the present chief simon pokagon who is now engaged in writing his fathers biography there is nothing about the spot to indicate that it was ever a place of human habitation habit atton in a valley running back from the st SL joseph river about a mile to the west at the head of a rippling winding little brook surrounded by hills and on two sides by heavy oak forests it lies a peaceful picturesque little nook of farm land rarely ever cultivated seldom visited save by the farmers boy who goes to bring home the cows grazing where the wigwams stood a half century ago or by the relic hunter who knows its history it is hidden from the highway and not a trace of the old town is left how old it was no one now living can tell the huts that pokagon and his followers with their little families occupied looked to the first white settlers who saw them sixty seven years ago as if they were about ready to tumble down and they might have been built seventy five or IGO years before that time probably an indian village had been there around the bubbling spring that formed the source of the little brook for many generations the numerous relics of the stone and copper variety found in the vicinity would indicate this pokagon was a pious indian on one of the hills overlooking the village was a log chapel where he and hi his s people worshiped according to the rites of the catholic church taught them by their fathers how long the chapel had been built is not known but it may have been one of the missions established more han ian years ago by father claude allouez the pioneer missionary of the region whose ashes are reposing somewhere along the st joseph river the exact spot of his burial place not being known in 1759 the english drove the french from this region and took possession of the territory dissolving an all these missions they were not rees re es for nearly years afterward and during that period although the indians were deprived of the care and instruction of the priests they did not forget the forms of the church rn in the latter part of the pokagon made a pilgrimage to detroit to implore the church authorities to send a black robe the indian name for priest among ong his people his speech to the vicar general of the bishop of cincinnati father gabriel richard on this occasion is on record it was an earnest and effective plea 1 I implore you he be said to send us a black robe to teach us the word of god if you have no care for us old men at I 1 least east have pity on our poor children who are growing up in ignorance and vice we still preserve the manner of prayer as taught our ancestors by the black robe who formerly resided at st joseph morning and evening with my wife and children we pray together before the crucifix sunday we pray together oftener ot tener on friday we fast all evening men w women amen and children according to the traditions handed down to us by our fathers and mothers for we have never seen a lack black robe listen to the prayers which he taught to them and see if I 1 have not learned them correctly then the old chief fell on his knees made the signs and repeated the prayers of the church the creed and the ten commandments in the e tongue the result of the plea was the sending of father stephen theodore badin the first catholic priest ordained ln lit the united states I 1 who came to indiana in 1829 1929 and fo for several years had bad charge of all the missions in southern michigan and northern indiana H he established a mission two miles north of south bend that eventually developed into the great notre dame university of today he was the religious instructor of Poka gons tend band its as long as they stayed at the old village and there are a number of old residents jesi dents of the vicinity that heard leather bailin badin pre achlin the little log church on the MIL hul the itself has bas long since been taken away but the lound aIon remains down the af I 1 ahe river b burying 11 i 0 o U t ia kot town wid and the old d 71 cedar cross V wah I 1 heizo U tat ann gone I 1 Is stilt standings it was there when the first white settlers bettum came into iiii the region I 1 pokagon Fo kagon is represented by some his aftem 1 is as the leader f of asand bf pott m tto mies im a battle 1 with the I 1 1 mew I 1 ath erde er de A I 1 dib it 8 at fi wi 8 this an 1 ay 34 classed 1 1 1 11 1 U A id i lt aa aorl W was iw wholly aft iw ig aa liw no I 1 0 I 1 V i vaa 0 1 k 11 16 T I 1 f amr I 1 M g wn shela ika J 1 ahe 1 dearborn Dear borz in I 1 AU 0 I 1 jd if m im t en M be B e I 1 D r a u 91 h rt J tm pi wd 11 1 M 1 r 11 I 1 1 e waa 6 1 w I M I 1 7 IF in 1 M aw I 1 1 I 1 I 1 a 4 lk 1 E t edw q que bov r T 4 1 1 41 k r trae oz e avi r 19 r rw ram I 1 CE 1 2 51 hw E 6 A I 1 M 0 R aki 31 I 1 I 1 M 1 ea WON ra L I if A g AN W SAIN ml 1 0 I 1 a r VM V M WW 1 A ka R I 1 5 F 4 rk 1121 f el I 1 lay t 0 used us ed to mcw the I 1 in locality I 1 from taking part in the massacre massac rg and himself went to st joseph to dissuade 0 topinabee Topi nabee from taking his inen men there pokagon doubtless was with Topi nabOo and wa was one of those who received capt heald at st SL joseph and helped rim film to get to mackinac Mackl nac and detroit the most authentic records of the mas sacre to be had give the credit 0 of f assisting capt heald and his wife to escape escape to john baptiste chandonia Chan donla a nephew of topinabee Topi nabee and who died at south bend in 1837 and whose remains lie in the city cemetery though in an unknown and unmarked grave pokagon after the treaty of 1833 the signing of which nearly broke his heart as it took from him the home of his childhood and old age and scattered his people broadcast over the land remained at the old town for several years then went over into cass county where in the silver gliver creek district distri ct a few miles north of dowagiac Dowa giac glac he established another village and built a church ohe fhe lived but a few years and his ashes repose under the church which is located in a picturesque spot on the banks of a charming little lake |