The Spokesrider

  Over at Ken Steinhoff’s Cape Girardeau History and Photos blog there was some discussion of the designation “consort” on the gravestone of “Charlotte Pemanpieh Bougainville, consort of Lorimer.”  (Louis Lorimer and Indian Park). I’ve seen that designation on tombstones here and there, including several that I saw in a cemetery near  Cicott Trading Post [...]

Sat Oct 24. Vincennes IN to West Salem IL. At the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge I forgot myself and crossed into Illinois like I’ve done on previous rides. Then I remembered that I had wanted to try the toll bridge across the river at St. Francisville IL. So I went back to the Indiana [...]

The near side of the Mississinewa River had been the home of Miami people who had resisted deportation to the west in the 1830s-1850s. They had reserves here through the 1870s, and had lived along the river even after the land had been “allotted,” or converted to private property.

(Sep 29 2009, cont.) Before this ride I somehow had the impression that the monument for the Fall Creek hanging was on the south side of the creek. I was pleased when I spied it on the north side where it belonged, and that there was a bridge over the creek so I could get [...]

(29 Sep 2009, cont.) These are more scenes from the walk in Falls Park. My bicycle and I walked together. I wanted to get down to Fall Creek itself, but railroads prefer not to come down to our level in places like this. I was assured by the increasing height of the railroad bed that [...]

(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 [...]

There was one long chapter that I almost skipped over. The author seemed to be a good storyteller — maybe too good, I thought. The language he used would be racially offensive in more ways than one to people nowadays — he seemed to immerse himself in the stories and the ways of his grandfather’s time — yet he also recognized that what was done to the Indians was wrong. He tells stories of violence that need some corroboration — I find it remarkable that they would not have gotten the attention of Indian agents and legal authorities — but I have so far found hardly any in the resources I have at home. He is very specific about places and names, which is what makes for good bicycle destinations; and vague about years and dates, which is frustrating. But I’m going to do what I can with it.