HISTORY OF TUSCOLA COUNTY
TOWN OF INDIAN FIELDS
This town occupies a central position in Tuscola County, and comprises
township 12 north, of range 9 east. The
Cass River flows in a southwesterly direction through a portion of the
township, crossing sections 2, 3, 10, 16, 15, 17, 19 and 20 in its tortuous
course.
There are two villages in the town, Caro and Wahjamega,
the former being the county seat.
The first settlement in the township was made north and west of the Cass
River, and the work of development has been confined to that region until a
recent period. The soil of this part of
the town is rich and productive, and the labors of thirty years have covered
its surface with valuable farms and farm improvements.
A lack of much needed facilities for transportation was, for many years,
a great inconvenience to farmers in this region, but in 1878 that want was
supplied by the completion of a railroad from Vassar to Caro, it being a branch
of the Michigan Central Railroad.
That portion of the township lying south and east of Cass River acquired
the title of the “Bad Lands of Indian Fields,” and being thus stigmatized were
avoided by the people
of desiring to purchase farming lands. As a consequence, a large tract of land in
that part of the township has remained a primeval wilderness, save where the
lumbermen in days gone by had cut the valuable pine scattered through the
forest, or where the fire king in his rage asserted supremacy, and left only
weird charred skeletons to show what the pass had been. More recently attention has been directed to
this neglected region, and a better acquaintance with its real character is
removing the prejudice that has existed against it. The land has an undulating surface and the
soil is generally a sandy loam with clay subsoil. There are patches of hemlock timber, then
beech, basswood, ash, elm and sugar maples.
The scars upon the latter tell of sugar making by the Indians. Further to the south is an interesting point
which was visited by the editor of the Caro Citizen
and described by him as follows: “Leaving
the meandering forest road we strike the new road, recently finished, and go due
south, down a steeper descent than any yet passed, down into a ravine, at the
bottom of which is a small creek of living water which sparkles in the light
and musically, murmurs as it flows around a bluff and passes out of sight. From the point we go up on the brow of the ‘Hog
Back,’ and find the result of one of Dame Nature’s curious freaks in a sort of
thumb projecting from the hill, and thickly studded with fine large trees. Standing at the top of this knoll one sees
two creeks meeting at its base, forming one, and toward their respective head
waters blending away in the distance like slender threads. The sides of this knoll are precipitous and
covered with trees averaging about two feet in diameter. This spot is an interesting one and is situated
at or near the section corners of sections 10, 11, 13 and 15. Near these section corners are three creeks
of living water which finally unite and form quite a stream.”
The beginning of development and settlement in this portion of the towns
is very recent, being due to and dating from the advent of the railroad in
1878. It constitutes nearly
three-fourths of the town and has as yet but few settlers. The lands having been generally located for
pine were thus withdrawn from market until the merchantable pine timber was
removed. This having now been done the
land is again in the market and at prices to encourage purchase and settlement
which are rapidly resulting. On the
State road running east there are at this time but three settlers; but the
roads are being opened and the lands being taken up for farms. This section of country lying, as it does, in
the triangle formed by the railroads and thus having three convenient outlets
for its products, has a choice of markets for its farm produce and for the hard
wood and other timber required by manufactures.
DERIVATION OF NAME
The name Indian Fields is rather an interesting one, and one that is
calculated to awaken curiosity concerning the early history of the locality. The Indian ever has been and ever will be an
object of and interest. The ear never
tires of listening to recitals of the deeds, incidents and traditions of this
strange race. There is a fascination
about an Indian mound that is capable of drawing people long distances for no
other purpose than to uncover bits of human skeletons.
That Indians inhabited the territory of which we are now writing is well
known. On the south bank of the Cass
River, and near the center of the township, was an Indian village, and in that vicinity
they raised corn and potatoes. This
ground came to be known as the Indian Fields, a title that was very naturally
suggested and adopted when the town came to be organized and christened.
There is no Indian history associated with this county possessing any
marked peculiarities or interest. The
Indians who visited and inhabited this region belonged to the Chippewa
nation. Incidents of their history and
the Skull Island massacre are given in the early history of the Saginaw Valley,
to be found upon another page in this work.
It is a tradition among Indians here, that two battles were once fought
with the Ottawas, at the present site of Wahjamega, and also at the high banks in the town of Almer.
The Indian village was once visited by General Cass, while he was
territorial governor of Michigan, for the purposes of treaty.
Where the hotel at Wahjamega now stands was
evidently a place used for the construction of canoes, bow arrows, etc. On the river bank, near by,
were found large quantities of flint arrow heads, when the ground was first
plowed. There were also graves, enclosed
with cedar pickets. The deposit of arrow
heads would seem to confirm the tradition of a battle having been fought at
that point.
At the time of first settlement in this town there were but two Indians
in the township, claiming residence. The
others had been transferred to their reservation, but these two refused to
go. Their names were Kin-ne-whip and Koc-a-chese. In subsequent years one and another drifted back to the spot of their birth, or of
tender associations, until quite a colony has been formed. Many of them have good farms and homes, and
are industrious in their habits.
2007 of
transcription and digital photographs by Carol Szelogowski
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