Today’s ride was the first with my new Droid X phone. At Mendon, I stopped at this park on the St. Joseph River to eat an ice cream and look up some information about the Rev. Isaac S. Ketchum, who had been the Indian agent who pressured the Potawatomi people to agree to be deported from Michigan, as they had agreed a few years earlier in the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. Ketchum’s meetings with the Potawatomi were probably held across the river at the Marantette trading post — about one third of a mile by crow from this Farmer’s Market. But I had forgotten to look up some things before leaving home — such as the denomination of the church in Centreville that he pastored, and his wife’s name. I had hoped to get a photo of the church, if it still existed in any form, and find his grave and his wife’s. So I simply sat in the shade and looked some of those things up in the collection of Michigan County Histories and Atlases. I was glad to see that the browser in the phone worked well with that web site.

One reason I wanted a smartphone was so I could do things like that when I’m out on a ride, for example, look up a page from my own private web where I keep my roughest notes, or a historic map, or a genealogical lookup. I spend a lot of time the night before each ride trying to get all the maps and reference materials printed that I might need. When we’re on the road where a printer is not handy, I try to jot down the relevant information in my notebook. Usually I omit something I wish I had. And I never get all the research done I wish I had done.

At one time I wondered if these smartphones would be the place where we get off the computer and communications revolution. But we’re not old enough to get off just yet, so here we go for at least one more round. I was glad my new phone came through for me today, and vindicated our decision so quickly.

Myra and I had thought we might eventually have a small, RAMdisk-based notebook computer with a cellular data service. Another option we considered was one of those mobile broadband devices, such as the ones that Verizon sells. The problem with that is we have only one travel computer at the moment, and Myra often wants access to the internet while I’m out riding. So I leave the computer with her. We’ll have his and her computers one of these days, but then we’d want his-and-her mobile broadband service to go with them, so that wasn’t going to be a complete solution.

So what we’ve done is get a pair of Droid X phones. We haven’t signed up for the tethering/hotspot service yet, but it sounds as though it’s something we can sign up for as we need it. We got them Thursday, so we still have a lot to learn. (The FedEx delivery man told Myra he had been delivering a lot of those boxes that day, and was curious about what was in them. She explained that she was switching from a TracFone to a Droid X smartphone. He agreed that was a pretty big jump.)

In some ways I think an iPhone would be nicer. (I see a lot of them at work.) But most of my bike rides take me out in the country where AT&T service often is not available. I spent a year with a 4G Tracfone that was almost worthless. Last year I went back to a CDMA one, and it worked great almost everywhere. So Verizon was the only choice, and we’re finding the Droid X to be pretty good.

I think this device going to help me get out and ride more. Even though it also means I’ll be spending more time sitting in town parks, thumbing away on my phone, the convenience of being able to go on a ride, ready or not, will probably mean more hours in the saddle, too. More riding is good, and more relaxing in the shade in town parks is good.

Maybe I’ll even try posting to this blog when on the road, though I expect I’ll be too busy looking things up to have enough time left to do that. We’ll see.

We’ve been having hot, humid, and rainy weather. Very rainy. But today there was no rain — not even an inch of it. A slight wind was blowing from the north, which brought us a cooler day than we’ve had for a while. It also made the ride to the south to Mendon and Centreville almost too easy.

I did find Isaac Ketchum’s grave. Somehow these graves are always in the last cemetery in which I look. And I may have found his church, too. What I don’t yet understand is why a man like that took a government job as Indian agent and got involved in heavy-handed tactics to get the Native people removed from Michigan.

Today’s mileage: 43.5 YTD: 1394.5

Just south of Mendon, on the south side of the St. Joseph River, is a sign pointing to the Marantette Farms. It also happens to be pointing toward the house that Patrick Marantette built in the 1830s.

Every now and then I stop to take a photo. This one is from July 15, 2006.

Today’s Kalamazoo Gazette has an article about the sign, along with a very nice photo: “Mendon farm sign honors late father and brother.” The sign just got a new paint job. I remember the first time I saw it, on a ride in late February 1997. It then needed a paint job badly. I didn’t recall when after that it had been painted, but I thought it had been in pretty good shape for the last quite-a-few years.

I have now learned from the article that it was painted in 1998, and this is the first new paint job since then.

What was even more surprising to me was to learn that the farm is now back in the Marantette family.

Patrick Marantette, the patriarch, is going to get more attention from me because two weekends ago I learned that he had told not just one, but two anecdotes about having encountered Black Hawk at his Coldwater trading post in the 1820s. I had long known the story he told about Black Hawk’s visit in 1825, but a newspaper article told of an 1824 encounter, too. And there are other records to corroborate that Black Hawk passed through lower Michigan in each of those two years.

(July 26, con’t.) When I visit the Oak Grove Cemetery I sometimes like to get a few photos from the old bridge across the Coldwater River, too. This bridge is now blocked off for vehicles but it’s not hard to climb over the guardrails to walk on it. And a footpath is still left open for pedestrians.

I always assumed the old bridge is pretty close to where the original Chicago Road crossed the river. Today I examined the plat maps, and determined that the crossing was at this very location at least since the early 1870s.

But what about the 1830s? And what about 1825, when Black Hawk came through on his way back from Fort Malden to do some business at Patrick Marantette’s post on the west (left) bank? Where did he and his people ford the river?

I had never before thought to check the original land surveyors’ plat maps that are online at the BLM web site. In some other townships that I have looked at they have shown exactly where the Sauk Trail was in relation to the Chicago Road that was surveyed in the mid 1820s. So I went to check the maps for Coldwater Township, Branch County.

Unfortunately, neither of the surveyors who platted Coldwater Township showed that information.

There are two surveyors, because the first survey was done before the Mickasawbe reservation was ceded to the United States. A portion of the plat of the pre-cession part is shown to the left above, partly overlaid on a part of the reservation plat, which was made a few years later.

For reference, I’ve drawn in the location of a portion of I69 (in blue) and the Chicago Road (in yellow). The location of the McCarty grave, and what I’ve often thought the most likely location of the Marantette trading post, is shown by a red dot. The Chicago Road continues on from there to the southwest, but that part has been modified a bit over the years and was too much trouble to draw in. A small bit of it is noted by the surveyor, though, where it crosses section lines. You’ll probably have to click on the map to get a larger image to see that detail.

My wildest hope in looking at these plats was to find that the surveyors not only marked the location of the Indian trail but of the trading post itself. But unfortunately, they didn’t mark either of these things.

It is interesting, though, that in section 23 the surveyor marked the location of some “Indian improvements.” Did the treaty stipulate that an extra payment would be made for such improvements? The Treaty of 1827 by which this land was ceded makes no mention of it. The Treaty of 1828 made in the following year does mention such a thing in one of its articles.

Circumstances rendering it probable that the missionary establishment now located upon the St. Joseph, may be compelled to remove west of the Mississippi, it is agreed that when they remove, the value of their buildings and other improvements shall be estimated, and the amount paid by the United States.

But the 1828 treaty referred to different lands to the west, closer to Lake Michigan. So that doesn’t explain why the surveyor took the trouble to note these structures. It’s even more remarkable because they didn’t even lie on a section line.

googlemap

One reason I’m interested in any such details in this part of Coldwater township is because early settlers and travelers wrote about two trading posts, one to the west (near where McCarty’s gravestone is now), and one on the east end of the prairie. I sometimes joke about a Wal-Mart having taken the place of the 2nd trading post. IIRC, the Wal-Mart is south of the quarter-section in which the “improvements” were located. Inside that quarter-section is not a Wal-Mart, yet it still is a land of shopping stores and parking lots. I think a Cabella’s is one of the newer additions.

So I still don’t know why the surveyor noted those structures, but I’m glad he did, even if the place is not going to be high on my list of bicycling destinations. Besides, I’ve already been there. My youngest son and I stopped at one of those stores on a tour in June 2000 so we could pick up some rain clothes for him.

I like to stop in Centreville, the county seat of St. Joseph County, Michigan. It’s usually a good place for a lunch break, and it’s the right distance from home for one. In 2006 there was a sandwich shop on Main Street that I stopped at a few times. When I’m completely self-contained, I can make myself a cup of coffee at a picnic bench on the courthouse lawn, as I did on this ride in summer 2001.

I hope the sandwich shop is still there. I didn’t make so much as one ride to Centreville this year. The one time I rode to White Pigeon, I had enough time for the luxury of a more circuitous route.

This courthouse is kitty-corner across the street from the building used for court back in the 1830s, where the lawsuit against Patrick Marantette ended up with a judgment against him in 1836. I already blogged about it here.

A couple of days ago, while looking for something on another topic in reel 41 of the records of the “Michigan Superintendency of Indian Affairs and Mackinac Agency, Letters Received,” I stumbled upon another tidbit of information about this incident. It’s a letter from Stevens T. Mason, the territorial governor of Michigan, to Henry Schoolcraft, the Indian Agent, dated December 26, 1836. Schoolcraft had apparently asked him about the Marantette case, and Mason wrote back explaining what it had been about. The new piece of information is that the government defended the suit against Marantette. I had known from reading the journal of the court that Andrew Backus had been an attorney for Marantette, but I had assumed that Marantette stood the cost himself. It turns out this is not so. In this letter Mason informs Schoolcraft that the government hired Backus to defend him, and that Backus was paid $300 for his work. That’s nearly three times of the damages and court costs assessed against Marantette. Nothing new about the ratio of lawyer fees to jury awards, I suppose.

The main route between Detroit and Chicago is now I-94, which is not suitable for bicycling. Before I-94 was built, US-12 served that role. It runs further south than I-94, a little closer to Michigan’s border with Indiana. Except that when it was the main east-west road, it was US-112. It was renumbered when I-94 was built. But here is a remnant of the old road when from when it was US-112.

This photo is taken from the west side of the Coldwater River, the side of the river where Marantette’s trading post had been.

The road is also known as the Chicago Road. And here in Coldwater, it’s Chicago Street. It was also known as the Sauk Trail. In the Chicago area, it still is called that in places.

Why Sauk Trail? Yes, Black Hawk’s people, the Sauk, used it. But so did a lot of other Native peoples, including the Potawatomi, when they would make their annual trips to Fort Malden in Canada to get presents from the British.

So why is it called the Sauk Trail rather than Potawatomi Trail? I’ve assumed it’s because the Sauk were the people who came from the farthest distance. But I’d like to find some kind of verification of that origin of the name.

Whatever the name, it’s the route that Black Hawk used, and in many places in Michigan, it’s a decent road for bicycling. When I did my first riding on it in 1997, some portions of it were not very good for bicycling. The paved shoulder was broken up too much, and it wasn’t the greatest for driving, either. But now a lot of those stretches make an OK bicycle route. There are usually nearby county roads that are even better for riding, but I like to ride Black Hawk’s road now and then just for the historical sense of it.

Before Patrick Marantette set up the trading post on the Nottawasepe reservation near what is now Mendon, he had operated a trading post for his in-laws at present-day Coldwater, Michigan. There had been a reservation near here, set up as part of the 1821 Treaty of Chicago.

The Chicago Road runs through this spot. At one time it crossed the Coldwater River on the older bridge shown in the foreground; now it crosses on the bridge in the background. This road was also known as the Sauk Trail because Black Hawk’s people used it as their route from the Mississippi River to Fort Malden in Canada. The trading post was on the right-hand bank of the river as seen in this photo, possibly very near the older bidge.

Marantette claimed to have met Black Hawk on his trip through in 1825, when he was 18 years old, and to have done $600 in business with him. Records kept by the British Indian Agent at Fort Malden show that Black Hawk did indeed make the trip that year.

The reservation went away when Americans thought it was bad for the land business to have Indians living right on the major thoroughfare from Detroit to the west. So the Potawatomi people were induced to give up this reservation, as well as a number of other small ones, and swap the land for a consolidated reservation at Nottawasepe. The trading post followed them there.

This photo was taken on a day ride on October 22, 2005.

The brick building is kitty-corner across the street from the present-day St. Joseph County courthouse. It was at this location that circuit court was held in 1834-36, where Patrick Marantette had to defend himself against the lawsuit for destroying the illegal liquor at the treaty negotiation.

The location is still used for government business. I don’t know if it has been a government building in all the intervening years, though.

One time when Marantette was here defending himself, there was trouble back at his place on the St. Joseph River. His story was as follows, as recorded on page 223 of the 1877 St. Joseph County history.

He had been dragged down to Centreville with his witnesses to attend court on the suit brought against him by Hecox for breaking in the heads of his whisky-kegs and spilling the fiery stuff on the ground, by order of Governor Porter, Hecox being a trespasser on the reservation. While he was gone his men had taken the occasion to get more liquor than was good for them, and the result was they were quarrelsome when they returned home. They sat down to the table, four or five of them, and began to find fault with the food, when Mr. Marantette rebuked them for going to the groceries and getting drunk and quarrelsome. Two or three made some insulting reply and sprang to their feet and drew their knives, when Mr. Marantette seized his rifle and drew a bead on the ringleader and commanded them to sit down. They looked at the wiry little Frenchman, and then at the long shining tube of the gun, the hammer of which was drawn back at full-cock, and a steady finger laid against the trigger, and then they looked at the door, but “sit down I tell you!” came once more from the lips of Marantette, and they sat down and finished their supper, Mr. Marantette doing likewise, but keeping his gun within easy reach.

All these photos were taken on July 15, 2006. It was very hot, in the mid-90s. Above is a place on the angling road between Centreville and Constantine where I stopped in the shade to take a breather. The day was getting late by now, which meant more of these very welcome shadows across the road. It’s amazing how much difference they can make on a hot day’s ride.

]]> http://www.spokesrider.com/2007/11/05/marantette-in-centreville/feed/ 2 http://www.spokesrider.com/2007/11/02/marantette-and-the-treaty-of-1833/ http://www.spokesrider.com/2007/11/02/marantette-and-the-treaty-of-1833/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:01:06 +0000 Spokesrider http://www.spokesrider.com/2007/11/02/marantette-and-the-treaty-of-1833/

Just south of Mendon, Michigan in St. Joseph County, after climbing a small hill out of the St. Joseph River valley, there is this sign pointing to the Marantette Farms. As far as I know, none of the Marantette family owns this land any more, but I’ve talked to people who say things like, “I went to school with (insert name here) Marantette.”

These two photos are from a two-day bike outing in mid-July 2006 — the last time I went out on a self-contained tour with full panniers. The temperature was in the mid 90s and I had not done much riding since my March-April trip to Alabama. I took a lot of rest stops in whatever shade I could find on the road along the way.

The original Marantette in St. Joseph County was Patrick Marantette, who operated a trading post at this site when this land was still part of the Nottawasepe reservation. In 1833, perhaps a year or so before this house was built, there was a treaty meeting at this site. It was a supplemental meeting to one that had been held in Chicago. At the Chicago treaty, the Potawatomi people in Illinois and Wisconsin had been induced to give up all their remaining lands and prepare to move west. An addendum to the treaty dealt with the people at Nottawasepe in Michigan.

Treaty meetings always drew big crowds. The Potawatomi people came so they could get in on whatever goods were going to be given out. A large faction was determined in this case to refuse the treaty payments, in order to make the treaty void. But usually these meetings ended up with some kind of signing and distribution of goods, and the meeting would almost certainly conclude with a big drinking party.

Treaty meetings also drew crowds of vendors who wanted to make money off of the Indians once they received their payments. And there might even be opportunity for some thievery when everyone was drunk.

There was a farmer who came with whiskey to sell to start the party early, while negotiations were still in progress. Territorial governor Porter ordered him off the treaty grounds, but he didn’t go. He then told Marantette to break the whiskey kegs, which he did, spilling the liquid on the ground. Later the farmer sued Marantette, and won a judgment against him.

That story is told in the local county history, and has been repeated in other publications.

As far as I know, though, I’m the only person who has looked up this case in the Circuit Court records. The legal action started at the local Justice of the Peace, but ended up there through an appeals process.

It took me a while to find the records. The regional archives at Western Michigan University had them listed as being in their collection, but when I first asked to view them, they couldn’t be found. Eventually they were found, though, and I got photocopies made. I wish I knew more of how the legal system worked, so I could make sure I’m interpreting it all correctly, but here is a sample of what I transcribed. In places where I couldn’t make out the handwriting, I’ve substituted or added question marks. Page numbers from the leather-bound journal are in brackets.

James Hecox vs Patrick Marantate } The defendant by A Backus his attorney defends, pleads and says that he is not guilty of the force and injury when in? ?i? manner and force as the plaintiff has in his declaration alledged against him and for trial thereof he puts himself upon the Country.

The plaintiff will take notice that upon the trial of this cause the defendant will offer evidence to prove that at the times when the said? barrel of whiskey, keg of Rum and Keg of Brandy in the plaintiff’s declaration mentioned, were destroyed as the plaintiff has alleged the said barrel of whiskey, keg of rum, keg of brandy were standing and remaining upon the Indian lands in the Township of Notawa and County of St Joseph and Territory of Michigan, now called and known as the Indian reservation within sd County of St Joseph and at the time of destroying sd whiskey, rum, and brandy and breaking and destroying the barrel and keg in which the ???? were contained as alleged by the plaintiff a treaty was being held with the Indians upon the Indian lands in sd Township of Nottawa and County of St Joseph aforesaid that said treaty was then and there being held under the authority of the Government of the United States of America.

That sd whiskey, Brandy and Rum at the time when the sau?? were destroyed as alledged by the plaintiff were standing upon the treaty ground where a treaty was then being heled. That the plaintiff or some other person for him was then and there engaged in selling sd liquors viz: whiskey brandy and rum to the Indians then and there assembled before sd treaty [281] ground. That is became necessary for the preservation of peace and order and sobriety among the Indians and to prevent the disturbance fo sd treaty so being held as aforesaid with the Indians to stop the sale of all ardent-spirits upon sd teaty grounds on the Indian land to the Indians. That the plaintiff was repeatedly warned by the orders of George B. Porter then Governor of Michigan and superintendent of Indian affairs within this Territory to cease selling said Whiskey, Brandy and Rum to the Indians and to remove the same from the treaty ground, that plaintiff promised to do so, but did not, and that after being warned as aforesaid he the plaintiff continued selling sd whiskey, brandy and Rum to the Indians in defiance of the public authorities of the United States and of the orders of the then governor of the Territory of Michigan and superintendent of Indian affairs within sd Territory. That at the time of destroing sd liquors, viz whiskey brandy and rum in the plaintiffs declaration mentioned the said George B. Porter then being Governor and superintendent of Indian affairs as aforesaid was present upon sd treaty ground officially engaged in and conducting and superintending sd treaty with the Indians aforesaid [mentioned?]. That upon the neglect of the plaintiff to remove sd whiskey, brandy and Rum from the treaty ground and Indian lands aforesaid [mentionce ?ull] upon further complaints being made to the sd George B Porter Governor and superintendent as aforesaid, that sd whiskey, brandy and Rum were being sold to the Indians in defiance of the orders and in violation of law. This defendant was directed and ordered by the sd George B Porter, Governor and superintendant as aforesaid, to break open the casks in which they were contained and destroy said whiskey, brandy and rum so being sold as aforesaid upon sd treaty ground to the Indians to the great disturbance of sd treaty negotiations and the annoyance of the authorities of the United States then and there engaged in negotiating the same, and that defendant in pursuance of the order and directions? as aforesaid given to him, did break open the casks in which sd liquors were contained and spill and destroy sd liquors as he lawfully might do for the causes, and by the authority of aforesaid.
Andrew Backus, Def? Atty

And here is the final judgment, two and a half years after the incident took place:

St Joseph County S.S. Now on this day, that is to say on the twenty eighth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty six being the April Term of the Circuit Court of the Territory of Michigan held in and for the County of St. Joseph aforesaid of the year aforesaid at the Court House in Centreville before the Hon. William A. Fletcher Circuit Judge of said Territory and M?? Muck & Hart L. Stewart Esq associate judges for the County of St joseph aforesaid. Cause as will the said Patrick Marantate to ju???? as the said james Hecox plaintiff by their attorney aforesaid and being ready for trial here came also a jury to wit: Roswell Shelhouse, Jasin Thurston, Edmund White, Mathew Rourrs?, Thomas M Collister? David H Austin, ?hia Alford Jr, William Whirter, Samuel Hazelet, Reuben Trussel? George Fortis & Solomon H??tan??. [283] who to speak the truth of the matters and things herein contained, being duly elected, empannelled and sworn, upon their oath say they find that the defendant Patrick Marantate is guilty in manner and form as he stands charged in the plaintiffs declaration and that they assess the plaintiffs damages at fifty dollars. Wherefore on motion of plaintiffs attorney it is ordered by the court that judgment be entered against the defendant on the verdict of the jury and that the plaintiff James Hecox recover of him the said Patrick Marantate the sum of Fifty dollars damages, assessed by the jury aforesaid together with his cost? of??? to?????, which costs are payed/taxed at Fifty Eight dollars and forty-one cents making in all the sum of one hundred and eight dollars and forty one cents.

This is the Marantette House in St. Joseph County, Michigan.   Just on the other side of the house is the St. Joseph River.  It was built just after the Black Hawk war of 1832.  At the time of the war scare there was a double log cabin here which served as a trading post for Indians.  The land here was part of the Nottawasepe reservation in the 1820s and 1830s.  There is a lot of information about Patrick Marantette  to put on my Black Hawk Slept Here web, but I don’t think I’ve put a stitch of information about him there yet.   Well, one item is that he met Black Hawk in 1825, and did business with him at his trading post.  But the 1825 trading post was in what is now the next county, and not at this site.

It was the Amish America blog article, “Men in the schoolhouse”, that made me think of  it.   I was surprised to learn from Erik Wesner that only 6 percent of the teachers in Amish schools in Holmes County, Ohio, are males.   Erik also tells of having been offered a teaching job in an Amish school in Indiana (very rare for an outsider) and of helping out at an Amish school this week.

What does that have to do with the Marantette house?  On my first ride to this house, in late February 1997, I met an Amish man in the front yard, trimming the trees.  Two young children were with him, not old enough to help much.   I kind of guessed it was not his house but I asked, and later we had a chance to talk.

When he learned that I was interested in the interactions between Native Americans and Euro-American settlers at the time of the Black Hawk war, he told me that he wished the children at school could learn more about the Indians who had lived in the area.  He had read what was in the 1877 county history, but that wasn’t exactly what he had in mind.   When he would be cultivating his fields on Nottawa Prairie (top quality farmland which begins just this side of the fence in the photo) he would be close to the ground where he would have a chance to see arrowheads and spearpoints that would get turned up.   He’d stop his team and jump off to get them.  It made him want to know more about the people who had lived here.

He invited me to come to his children’s school to talk about it.   I had just barely started on my Black Hawk project at the time, so begged off. I wasn’t ready to do presentations then yet.  But I’ll bet I have his name in one of my notebooks.  His own children are probably past that school age by now.

In thinking about it later, after I did start doing presentations on the topic, it occurred to me that it probably wouldn’t work to do it with a slide show or powerpoint projector unless I’d take a monster battery system with me.   Maybe a series of posters would be better.

(Erik talks about how they manage to teach in one-room schools.  I once thought I knew something about it, because I attended one- and two-room schools, complete with outhouses, for my 1st through 8th grade education.    Later (but many years ago) I taught in a two-room school for a couple of years, and came to the conclusion it couldn’t be done just on nostalgia, even though by then we had such conveniences as running water and indoor toilets.)

The first night’s destination was the KOA campground at Middlebury, IN I had done the same ride back in July when the temperatures were in the mid 90s. That time I took a lot of breaks. This time the temperatures were cooler. I took one long break at Mendon, where I stopped and took photos of the old Marantette bridge (near the old trading post) and then stopped at the park by the “new” bridge where I heated water on my alcohol stove for soup and coffee.

I turned on my lights for the last few miles. I got to the campground before Myra did, which is something that hardly ever happens. We were fortunate to have a place to camp. I always avoid the Niles-South Bend area on football weekends, but it turned out that even at Middlebury there were overflow campers from Penn State.

63 miles for the day.