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.
This apple tree is on the Section 15 that was owned by James Tompkins, and is near the creek. Whether the tree is a descendant of the one in the story is unknown. Most likely it isn’t. But it’s great place to have an apple tree.
The 1879 history of Branch County, Michigan tells about the first settlers at Girard. The Americans weren’t the first people living at Girard, though. It’s a common enough story. Many of the first settlers in southern Michigan told how they wouldn’t have made it through the first winter without the assistance of their Potawatomi neighbors [...]
Ken asked for a reminder about the Ten O’Clock Treaty Line. Here’s a photo of me by a historical marker that gives a brief explanation. It’s from my September 2006 ride. You probably need to click on the photo to get a version large enough to read. googlemap The marker is in Story, Indiana, just [...]
Another scene from Sunday’s ride. A few miles back I had been at Edward O. Smith’s old farmstead toward the southeast corner of Sunfield Township, Eaton County. I was now on my way to the place where he farmed for one year in 1840, and where his wife had seen a large band of Potawatomi [...]
The 1880 county history said that a portion of the Potawatomi people at Bellevue fled north in 1840 when they heard that Gen. Hugh Brady’s soldiers were coming. My destination for the day was about 20 miles north, in Sunfield Township, where a Mrs. Smith was said to have been surprised and frightened to see [...]
I tried a different route from the west into Bellevue on Sunday afternoon’s ride. Then I noticed the name: Brady Road. Was this Brady road named after the Gen. Hugh Brady who was in charge of the roundup of Potawatomi Indians in 1840? A township in Kalamazoo County is named for him — much of [...]