History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of their prominent men and pioneers.

INDIAN HISTORY OF THE TWO COUNTIES.

15

about two miles above Newburg, on the Shiawassee River,
where the stream was deep and eddying. The ceremony
at this place was witnessed in 1831 by Mr. B. 0. Williams,
of Owosso, who thus describes it: " Some of the old Indians every year, in fall or summer, offered up a sacrifice
to the spirit of the river at that place. They dressed a
puppy or dog in a fantastic manner by decorating it with
various colored ribbons, scarlet cloth, beads, or wampum
tied around it; also a piece of tobacco and vermilion paint
around its neck (their own faces blackened). and after burning, by the river-side, meat, corn, tobacco, and sometimes
whisky offerings, would, with many muttered adjurations
and addresses to the
spirit, and waving of
hands, holding the pup,
cast him into the river,
and then appear to
listen and watch, in a
mournful attitude, its
struggles as it was
borne by the current
down into a deep hole
in the river at that
place, the bottom of
which at that time
could not be discovered
without very careful
inspection. I could
never learn the origin
of the legend they then
had, that the spirit
had dived down into
the earth through that
deep hole, but they believed that by a propitiatory yearly offering
their luck in hunting
and fishing on the river
would be bettered and
their health preserved."
Once a year, soon
after sugar - making,
nearly all the Indians
of the interior repaired
to Kepayshowink (the
great camping-ground), oK
which was at the place
where Saginaw City now stands. They went there for the
purpose of engaging in a grand jubilee of one or two weeks'
duration, engaging in dances, games, and feats of strength;
and as they were usually able to obtain liquor there, these
gatherings often brought about quarrels and deadly fighting.
" If an injury had been done to one party by another it
was generally settled here, either with property, such as
arms, ponies, or blankets, or by the price of life. If the
injury had been one of an exceedingly aggravated nature,
a life was demanded, and stoically and unflinchingly yielded

up by the doomed party." Many an inveterate Indian feud
reached a bloody termination on the " great campingground" at Saginaw.

Although the Red Cedar band, of which Okemos* was
the leader, had its settlements several miles south of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties, yet a brief mention of the
old chief is not out of place in the history of these
counties, for it was in one of them that he first saw the
light, and in the other that he died; and the territory of
both of them was roamed over as a hunting-ground for
many years by him and his followers in common with the
bands whose villages and fields were within its boundaries.
Okemos was born at or near the Grand Saline, in what
is now Shiawassee County, at a date which is not precisely
known, but which has been placed by some historians at
about 1788. That this
date is nearly the correct
one seems not improbable, for reasons which
will presently be given.
'He was of Saginaw
Chippewa stock, his
people having been of
the Shiawassee bands
of that tribe. It has
been said by some that
he was the nephew of
the great Pontiac, but
_ cthere is little reason to
believe that such was
the case, though it is
not strange that he
should, in the spirit of
genuine Indian boastfulness, be more than
willing to favor the idea
that he sustained that
relation to the redoubtable Ottawa chieftain.
How and where the
earlier years of Okemos
were passed is not
known. His first appearance as a warrior
was at Sandusky in
the war of 1812, and
his participation in
that fight was the prinos. cipal event of all his
life. On that occasiont eighteen young Chippewa braves, among whom were
Okemos and his cousin Manitocorbway, and who were serving as scouts on the side of the British, had come in from
the river Raisin, and were crouching in ambush not far from

[EM

* Okemos, or Ogemaw, meant, in the Chippewa language, "Little
Chief," and Che-ogemaw, "Big Chief." Whether the name "Little
Chief," as applied to this Indian, had reference to his small stature
(as he was very short) or to the extent of his power and authority as
a chief, does not appear.
t The account here given of the participation of Oklmos and his
cousin Manitocorbway in the fight at Sandusky is written from facts
furnished by B. 0. Williams, Esq., of Owosso, who had a minute
account of it from the two chiefs themselves, with both of whom he
was well acquainted.