Shavehead was a Potawatomi leader who was feared and disliked by the white settlers. He did not sign any of the treaties by which southern Michigan was ceded to the United States. As a result, he didn’t get any annuity payments from the United States, which led to his being marginalized among his own people.
he then wanted to enact an ordinance requiring people doing business with Indians to have whiskey available for sale. That episode epitomizes the urge to regulate. But I have not been able to find the anecdote again, despite much searching. I don’t know if the name of the person was given, but if it was, I’d look hard for more information about him and some way to make a Sunday afternoon bicycle ride out of it.
This is a good photo for a time such as now when I’m too busy getting ready for another bike outing to post much. I presume I don’t need to explain where it was taken. I’ve often wondered, though, how Black Hawk and his large entourage would get across to the other side and/or over [...]
This is the National House in Marshall, Michigan. The photo was taken in 2002, a year when I did not do much bicycling. I’ve ridden to this place many times, though. It’s about 20 miles from home. There are several stories in Marshall connected to the Black Hawk war scare, and the town is a [...]
Sept 9, 2004, continued. By the time I got back to the campground at Blackhawk Park, the fog was gone entirely. Now I was able to get some clear shots of the river. This one is looking north. Black Hawk’s people were trapped on the bank on the right, in between the steamboat “Warrior” which [...]
More from Sunday’s ride. This photo is from the bridge across the St. Joseph river on Farrand Road. The remains of a previous bridge can be seen in the background. Last time I was here (June 2007) some Amish fisherman were pulling their boat out of the water next to the bridge. The first time [...]
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 [...]