Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

INGHAM COUNTY NOTES

197

Okemos in Ingham county commemorates and perpetuates his
name.
It seems fitting and proper that this should be so, for on the
site of the village was Okemos' favorite camping place, and it was
there he had a productive farm.
O. A. Jenison, an early settler in Lansing, secured a picture of
Okemos, which can be seen in the Historical Museum at the
Capitol. He claimed it was the only picture Okemos ever had
taken, but in later years this has been disputed, and there is said
to be at least one other, taken with two white men.
Mr. Jenison says, "Okemos sat for this picture, to my certain
knowledge, in 1857, and it has never been out of my possession
from that day to this." (Feb. 11, 1879.)
B. O. Williams, of Owosso, who was for many years an Indian
trader and spoke the Indian language fluently, has told many
stories of Okemos which he had directly from the lips of the old
warrior, among them the description of the battle of Sandusky as
given above.
Freeman Bray, of Okemos, is also an authority on matters connected with Okemos, for when he settled where the village of
Okemos now stands the chief had his principal village there, and
was at the head of a mixed band of Tawas (the common rendering
of Ottawa) Pottawattomies and Chippewas. All the Indians
who took part with the British in the War of 1812, Mr. Bray called
"Canada Indians."
The band had a burial ground on the low land near Okemos, and
used to cache their corn on the knoll where the school house was
built. Mr. Bray said the Indians planted corn for two or three
years after he settled in Okemos on land which he plowed for
them and allowed them to use.
The band remained in the vicinity until in aboutl845-46, when
they became scattered. Many of those belonging to the Ottawas
and Pottawattomies were picked up by the United States authorities and transported beyond the Missouri river. On one occasion a band of some 500 were encamped near Mr. Bray's place,
and had among them a number of sick, including several squaws.
Mrs. Bray helped to take care of one of these, a young woman
apparently in the last stages of consumption, and afterward her