Henry Ossem

On a weekend tour to Koskiusko County, Indiana in October 2006, I went out of my way to ride on roads that had oddly-placed turns, like the one pictured above. Most of the roads that run straight east-west or north-south follow section lines, but there are some, like this one, that do not. It doesn’t follow a quarter-section line, either. The road runs along the southern boundary of what had once been Musquabuck’s Reserve. (Here is a link to the 1832 treaty that created the reserve.) If memory serves, the photo was taken along the part of the road in Section of 14 in Plain Township, shown on the map below — right about where the “14″ is printed.

The base map is from an 1879 atlas of Koskiusko. The image is provided by www.historicmapworks.com. You can click on the map to go to the page containing the original image.

I had started the day’s ride at Middlebury, and reached this part of Koskiusko County late in the afternoon. The route for a latter part of the day’s ride is shown in green.

One destination was the historic Pound Store in Oswego. It was built in 1838, shortly after Musquabuck was induced to give up his four-section reservation. An article in Koskiusko County Historical Bulletin from 1972 contains some reminiscences about it.

I have been interested in a store that predated this building. The 1887 county history says, “”Henry Ossem made his headquarters at the Indian village located on the present site of Oswego and it is said accompanied the Indians to the West.”

Henry Ossem is a name that appears on a number of Indian treaties, as an interpreter. He was also one who submitted claims to the government for debts owed him by the Indians.

Whether his trading post was on this exact spot I don’t know. But Oswego is not a large place. It would have been nearby.

Whether he really went west when the Potawatomi were evicted from Indiana, I don’t know. It sounds as though he may have been angling to get a reserve of his own in 1836 when Musquabuck and other leaders had to give up their reserves and prepare for eviction from the state. (Tipton papers, volume 3, page 534). It may have been the site of Otsego Oswego that he wanted. He didn’t succeed in getting it.

The Michigan State Archives have some information about his trading activities. He got a two-year license to trade from John Hays, Indian Agent at Fort Wayne, on 17-Jul-1822. This license was for trading on the Wabash River. This license allowed him to trade at Fort Wayne and on the Wabash River. He was forbidden from attending Indian Councils or doing whisky trading. Indians who caught him breaking the agreement could take his goods. He was not to say things that would prejudice the Indians against the United States.

On August 19, 1823, he got a license from William Woodbridge, acting Governor of Michigan in Lewis Cass’s absence, permitting him to trade with the Indians at Waw-pe-kan-a-kee on the Tippecanoe River. I presume that is the place now known as Oswego.

There is also a four-page invoice for goods he purchased to trade with the Indians here. Here is a non-random sample:

• 2 dozen playing cards

• 1/2 dozen scissors

• 1 1/2 lb vermillion

• 1 tent

• 1 keg powder 50 lb.

• 94 lbs tobacco

• 9 prs(?) 3-point blankets

• 17 of 2 1/2-point blankets

• 5 of 2-point blankets

• 2 dozen scalping knives

• 2 dozen cartouch knives

• 127 lbs bar lead

There are also a number of fabric items, but I’m having a little trouble reading the handwriting on those.

This part of Koskiusko County is one of my favorite destinations. It’s an area I’ve come back to several times. I like to think about Henry Ossem’s trading activities each time I ride through here.