History of Lake, Porter, and LaPorte, 1927County history published by the Historians' Association . . . .
Source Citation:
Cannon, Thomas H., H. H. Loring, and Charles J. Robb. 1927.
History of
the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana, Embracing the Counties of Lake,
Porter and LaPorte: An Historical Account of Its People and Its Progress
from the Earliest Times to the Present.
Volume I. Indianapolis, Indiana: Historians' Association. 840 p.
HISTORY OF THE LAKE AND CALUMET REGION OF INDIANA
CHAPTER XII.
THE LAKE REGION MARSHES -- ANIMAL LIFE -- MARSH RECLAMATION.
THE CALUMET REGION -- DEER HUNTING -- CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL -- THE TOLLESTON
GUN CLUB AND THE CALUMET FUED -- JOHN NIMITZ -- DEATH OF THE CONROYS -- THE
BURNS DITCH -- KANKAKEE SWAMPS -- FURBEARING WEALTH -- HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS
OF THE KANKAKEE -- RECLAMATION DITCHES ON THE KANKAKEE -- THE LACROSSE LAND
CO.
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The Calumet Region, so called, is that territory drained by the waters of the Grand Calumet and Little Calumet rivers. The Grand Calumet rises in Lake Michigan just east of the boundary line between Lake and Porter counties. It flows in a general southwesterly direction through Gary, then, turning to the northwest, it passes through East Chicago and Hammond and empties into Lake Michigan (its source), just over the Indiana boundary line in Illinois. The Little Calumet rises in LaPorte County and flows in a general westerly direction through Porter and Lake counties. About three miles south of Hammond, it crosses the state line into Illinois, where at Blue Island it turns northeast and then southeast, and empties its waters into the Grand Calumet about one and one-half miles south of Lake Calumet in Illinois and approximately two miles from the Lake County boundary line. The territory through which both streams flow is nearly level and much of it overflowed during the spring months on account of the rise in the waters of the stream due to the melting snows and the usual heavy spring rains. For about sixteen miles in Lake County only about three miles separate the main channels of both streams, and formerly to this section with the immediate adjoining lands, comprising in all about seventy-five square miles, the term Calumet Region was generally applied.
Through all its known history the marsh lands have been frequented by innumerable water fowl in their migrations and it was considered a sportsmen’s paradise. To bag 50 to 100 ducks per day was a common occurrence. There was an abundance of mallards, canvas-backs, redheads, pin-tails and blue-wing teals; swans were occasionally seen, and a pelican was shot in the ‘80s. “My best record for one day’s shooting,” said a deputy state game warden, “was 198 ducks and 2 geese.” This region was famous as the home of the mink and muskrat and some of the stories are almost unbelievable of the number trapped each season even
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as late as 1875, when the lake Region of Indiana had become generally settled; It has been claimed that in 1883 experienced trappers estimated there were 40,000 rats on the lands claimed by the Tolleston Gun Club, south of Tolleston, near Gary, and for some years previous the season’s take averaged about 30,000.
It is not surprising when you consider the wonderful fishing, hunting and trapping in the Calumet marshes and streams, that the Pottawattomies were unwilling to leave the Calumet Region for new and less favored territory beyond the Mississippi, and many years after, the old warriors at their new home in the Indian Reservation in Kansas lamented their grief and sorrow at the destiny which had deprived them of one of the most favored spots in America from the viewpoint of an Indian. The hunting and trapping days of this region have gone. Engineers in deepening the channel of the Calumet River in carrying out the Burns Ditch Project constantly reclaimed tracts of land and thereby wrote the last chapter of hunting in the famous Calumet swamps.
DEER HUNTING IN THE CALUMET REGION.
In the days of the stage coach and muzzle-loading musket the Indiana dunes teemed with American red deer. Numerous varieties of moss, herbs and rank marsh grass provided ample food. Dense thickets of oak and poplar afforded ideal hiding places. The wide stretch of open sandy beach gave safe access to the lake. The deer ran singly or in small groups, except in winter, when they collected in great numbers. As many as 100 have been seen in one herd. Despite the ravages from wolves, hunters and hounds, the deer remained long after the sparse settlements along the Calumet rivers had become villages and towns. Darius Blake of Garyton, John Brown of Crown Point, and other early settlers have asserted that deer were as plentiful in the ‘50s as cattle are now and that venison was as essential to their diet as beef to ours. Deer hunting was a favorite occupation as a means of livelihood, more than for sport, the venison providing meat for the table while the skins brought a good price from the fur traders.
Mrs. John Nelson, whose father-in-law conducted the Oak Hill Tavern, has declared that she could look through the windows most any time and see spotted fawn, feeding in the nearby marsh, and it was nothing uncommon any day to see one or more herds of a dozen deer or more in close proximity to the settlements. The dune region along the lake shore was a favorite resort for the deer and but a short distance from Mount Tom one may see on the gently sloping sides of a dune the marks of an ancient camp. Here was a veritable graveyard of deer bones and antlers mixed with flint chips and an occasional arrowhead.
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There are still living a great many hunters who bagged deer in the dune region. Christopher Kimball of Michigan City was one of the most noted hunters in the early days of the settlements. Mr. Kimball hunted from the mouth of the Calumet to Allegan County, Michigan, but he obtained most of his quarry at City West and Fennville. Mr. Kimball killed more for the table than for sport. Some of his experiences he told with characteristic bluntness in his own words as follows:
“In 1849 when I came with my father to Michigan City there were more Indians than whites here. They had their wigwams in a hollow among the sand hills near the river. They hunted around here and lived well, for the country was full of game. I often ran across them on the beach. They were great walkers, took long steps and could travel faster and farther than most white men. In those days everyone hunted. I have killed ducks and geese, prairie chickens, wild turkey, coon, fox, wildcats and a great many deer and bears. I made the first payment on the house where I live from the sale of furs. Three buck skins and seven mink skins brought $100; fox skins $2.50 for each hide and $5 for bounty. I sold my furs to John Young. Mrs. Gibson, who kept the Gibson Hotel near Tolleston, used to sell to him also.
“I am a blacksmith by trade, but always found time to hunt. In 1873 I caught thirty-nine foxes in six weeks and killed at different times about a half-dozen wildcats. In the early winter of 1876 my partner and I shot forty-six deer, one cub bear and seventeen coons in forty-two days near Fennville, Mich. One of the bucks killed had twenty-one prongs and was so large that it took three men all day to pull him over the fallen timber and out of the swamp. Among the men who hunted with me those days were Charley Kimball, Joseph Hill, Isaac Riley, Bille Alexander, Jacob Schraeger and Thomas Donnelly. I killed twenty-one deer at old City West, a village that used to be just west of Mount Tom. There was a big farm there owned by N. P. Ward. Deer came to his place in droves. Among the deer I killed at City West was a mule deer weighing about 175 pounds. His ears were twice as long as those of the common deer and he was different from them in other ways.
“The most interesting hunt I ever had was with my brother in 1857 near Michigan City. There had been a heavy snow followed by a thaw. Then came a gale which heaved the water of the lake against the sand hills and wore the sides almost straight down so that they were like a perpendicular wall. In places they were as high as ten feet above the level of the beach. A couple of days of cold weather put a gloss of ice on everything so that we had to wear ice creepers. We started from Michigan City at seven o’clock and before we got three miles out we saw twenty deer cross the road. We turned loose our fourteen dogs and they scattered all through the woods. We followed several of them to the lake.
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I had hardly reached the beach when a deer followed by one of the dogs came bounding to the top of a hummock. I shot him and just as I raised up I saw four more, some in the water and some on the beach. They were trying to get over the hill but would slip back and fall down. Then I called my fastest dog, Johnnie. He would not try to climb the hill but stood at the base and when a deer rolled down he would grab it. The deer passed by the dogs, would run up the sloping side of the hills and fall over the slippery edge or attempt to climb from the bottom and fall back. Johnnie did the rest. My brother and I killed one deer each and Johnnie killed five that day.
“Occasionally we would hunt in a canoe after dark. One night I was with a little Frenchman who used a ‘Queen’s Own’ flint-lock musket and square pieces of lead instead of bullets. The night was hot and we could hear the deer stamping in the water to rid themselves of flies. We were burning a bunch of cooper’s shavings for light. From behind the sycamore tree stepped a deer. His eyes, reflecting our light, looked like balls of fire. The Frenchman shot and the deer dropped right in his tracks. One Thanksgiving day in the late 70’s when there were but few deer left, Jacob Schraeger and I went out to get another deer if possible before they were entirely gone. We discovered a deer heading for the Furness marsh, so I went on a run to head him off. As I looked around I saw a deer coming down the road. I gave him one shot and he went into the ditch. He was wounded, so I re-loaded my musket and shot him the second time which finished him.
“As our road led for about a mile through partridge ground I loaded my gun with fine shot and soon flushed a number of partridges, killing four. On Ward’s farm we ran into a flock of geese. I let loose both barrels and down came a goose. I now had the deer, four partridges and a goose which was load enough for any man to carry eight miles. Schraeger had injured his knee so I had to carry the load alone. Among my last trophies is the mounted head of a large buck that I killed about 1872, three miles south of Michigan City.”
THE TOLLESTON GUN CLUB AND THE CALUMET FEUD.
The Tolleston Gun Club of Chicago which was organized about 1868, was composed of wealthy business men and. leaders in finance and industry, who secured control of several thousand acres of marsh land on the Little Calumet with a frontage of six miles from Black Oak to Liverpool. Among those who enjoyed its membership and privileges was John W. Gates, who controlled the Illinois Steel Co., and little did that financial magnate realize that the company which he had made such a successful institution, would within thirty years under new ownership, have one of
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the finest steel plants in the world, within almost a stone throw of the place he was enjoying hunting and fishing pleasures. During high water, the Little Calumet at the grounds of the Tolleston Gun Club, was frequently a mile wide and resembled a lake more than a river. It was one of the most favored sections on the stream for hunting and fishing and the club went to almost unbelievable extremes to protect themselves from poachers.
Through the courtesy of James W. Lester, president of the Gary Historical Society, who has gathered for preservation the story of the eventful period covering the operations of the Gun Club on the Little Calumet, we are privileged to record in this history a few of the incidents which show the bitterness and strife which existed between the Gun Club and the inhabitants of the Little Calumet region. It is a story of special privilege, which was resented by every farmer, trapper, hunter and fisher long accustomed to the freedom of the wilderness, and the attempt to deny them rights which they had always enjoyed, brought twenty years of bitter feud with a crimson record of assaults, murders, attempted assassinations and mysterious deaths.
The pioneers who opened the territory to settlement and their children, refused to recognize any rules and regulations made by a “foreign” hunting club which permitted the killing for sport but denied the poor man a brace of ducks for his table. The game wardens employed by the club to keep trespassers from the marshes, from the start met resistence from the natives, who for fifty years had enjoyed without restriction the privileges of hunting, fishing and trapping, and to many of them these privileges were a source of revenue to maintain themselves and their families during the winter and early spring. It was an every-day duty for the game wardens in the employ of the club, to patrol the waters and marshes and take from hunters their fire arms and boats, and if resistance was offered, a few blows with brass knuckles were added, which rough tactics were materially effective in maintaining the hunting and fishing monopoly in the hands of the club. When redress was sought in the courts by hunters and trappers against the club for the assaults upon them, the suits were usually adjusted by the payment of small sums or continued so long in court that witnesses or the complainants died which disposed of the charges.
The coercive methods had no effect on some of the natives or on many visiting sportsmen from Chicago and other cities who were not members of the club, so the club watchers resorted to extreme violence and serious assaults became a common occurrence. Many times the game wardens and watchers attempted violence on some of the hunters who were well able to take care of themselves, with the result that many of the club watchers found their jobs too strenuous and quit the club service. Next
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the club wardens resorted to fire arms. Attempted assassinations were frequent with an occasional murder, as the hunters and fishers were also forced to protect themselves with their guns. Considerable excitement was created when the body of James Norris, a young Chicagoan, was found in a pool of half frozen water at the edge of the Tolleston marsh. Norris’ gun and ducks lay at his side. There was a wound in his head. His murderer was not apprehended.
It is impossible to give in detail an account of the many assaults and murders, which occurred from the club reign over this section of the marsh land. The ones which attracted the greatest public attention were the assaults on Dr. R. A. Norris, William Dale, Charles Seydel, and Commissioner Larre; the shooting of Arthur Morton and the battle between farmers and watchmen in which Blackburn, Costick, Prott, Bothwell and others were injured. The club watchers and wardens, however, did not wholly escape retaliation. Game wardens, Whitelock, Traeger and Richard Smith were shot and watchmen Clery and Conroy assaulted Albert Looker in a pool room as a preliminary to arresting him for poaching, and as he was resisting them effectively they drew their guns, but Looker killed them both.
He was immediately arrested and charged with murder and. the next day Charles Seydel of East Gary, previously mentioned for the dangerous assault committed upon him by Conroy, went to the court with a stocking filled with money and laid it on the clerk’s desk to give bond for Looker and the bond was accepted. In view of the circumstances connected with the deaths, Looker was released but Conroy’s brothers determined upon his death. Looker who had been warned of the danger killed one of them in Chicago and then went to Texas where another brother followed. Finding Looker in a saloon he drew his gun and said “Looker, your time has come!” Looker replied “You have got me, but let me write a note to my folks and tell them where I was killed.” He reached into his inside pocket as if for a note book or paper and shot through his coat instantly killing the third of the Conroys.
The feud between the natives and the gun club attracted wide attention and kept coroners, surgeons and the courts busy for many years. A bill to prevent further trouble and in the interest of the inhabitants of the Little Calumet territory was introduced into the Indiana legislature which would make it lawful to hunt in marsh land without the consent of the owner. This measure took away from the land owner the right to forbid trespassing on his holdings providing it was not under cultivation, and as would be expected, it was a very popular measure in the Little Calumet region and some other sections of Indiana.
One of the most daring of the poachers who resisted the monopoly of the Tolleston Gun Club for years was John Nimitz who was denounced
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by the club as one of the worst game thieves they had to contend with and who battled with them repeatedly in and out of court. At an early stage the club wardens forcibly took his gun from him and for so doing settled through court proceedings by the payment of $500. On one occasion Nimitz spent two weeks trapping in the gun club section of the marshes and obtained an average of one hundred muskrats a night. One winter he secured eighty mink. The sinking of his boats and the seizing of his traps, were frequent annoyances suffered by Nimitz, but he was not to be deterred. Then one of the club watchers, Willard West, tried Nimitz nerve with a shot gun and Nimitz replied with both barrels and drove West into the security of the club house. Once he was captured by the club forces and locked into one of their out-buildings from which he soon escaped and the same day was again shooting mink as ever.
On another occasion, one of the club wardens with a deputy sheriff entered a lawyer’s office where Nimitz and his father were seated, and while holding revolvers to their heads, handcuffed them. The father and son were forcibly taken to the Gun Club grounds where they were detained in the warden’s quarters and handcuffed to a bedstead. They were later brought to court to face numerous charges but the court dismissed the case and set them at liberty. Once Jim Conroy, a club watcher, shot at Nimitz and his brother, Henry, in the swamp. Nimitz drew his revolver and started after Conroy who disappeared. The next day Conroy found Nimitz in the marshes and drew his gun on him. Conroy who was a big man approached Nimitz, intending to beat him with brass knuckles but fortunately for Nimitz, Conroy lowered his gun and Nimitz immediately drew his own revolver and forced Conroy at the point of the gun to return to the club house.
It was outrages such as this that incensed the natives to the highest degree and, when imported sluggers were brought from Chicago to inflict physical violence on the local hunters as frequently happened, Nimitz decided to become a constable and, while acting as such, it became his duty to arrest Conroy who with some others had severely beaten three local hunters. Obtaining a warrant Nimitz went after the sluggers. He finally secured Conroy for appearance in court, but the others had flown. In another instance he was able to secure service in a local suit on the president of the club, a difficult thing to do, and this greatly incensed the club members who heretofore had been able to avoid service. They began to fear Nimitz who was beyond their control and who, they knew had good reasons for a non-compromising attitude towards them.
About this time as a good opportunity appeared, Nimitz decided to engage in business and quit the Little Calumet marshes and his position as court official. He will always be remembered as one of the most daring of the poachers, who, not even repeated assaults or attempted
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assassination, would deter from hunting or fishing in the marshes, which had been a common privilege enjoyed by all the inhabitants of the Little Calumet River region from the period of earliest settlement until the reign of the Tolleston Gun Club.
THE BURNS DITCH.
Among the early thoughts of the citizens of Gary was the reclamation of the Calumet River marshes, thousands of acres of which were within the present city limits and in the spring season the high water was in some places more than a mile wide. These marshes were a direct menace to the health of the citizens of Gary which would be removed by reclamation and add millions to the wealth of the city which was rapidly growing south. A movement for reclamation was started in 1906 by Randall Burns who owned 1200 acres of then worthless marsh about one mile west of Broadway and he interested many citizens in taking an active part in organizing a drainage district, the petition being filed in Porter County in August, 1908. Mr. Burns headed the petition and for this reason and his active interest in it, the drainage ditch contemplated became known as the Burns Ditch.
The original survey was made in January and March, 1909 and the commissioners, G. F. Stanchfield, A. P. Melton and Thomas J. Wilson filed a report on April 8th the same year. Prompt action was taken to begin work on the ditch at the earliest moment under the direction of A. P. Melton as construction commissioner and engineer and a contract was let to the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. of Chicago, who, however, were unable to start construction of the ditch because of litigation instituted by land owners and by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Co., which lasted many years and was carried to the United States Supreme Court, but a decision by that body covering a similar situation in Porter County ended litigation.
At the time of making assessments of benefits and damages to land owners in the Burns Ditch, there was a well recognized opinion among lawyers that a railroad company whose embankment was pierced by the drain as laid out, was entitled to damages for the construction of a bridge to permit the passage of the water. In a smaller drain filed in the Porter County Circuit Court bearing the name of the Ludington or Phillips Ditch, the drain cut the railroad embankment of the Chicago and Erie Railroad and the railroad company insisted that they be allowed as damages an amount equal to the cost of building a bridge.
Hon. H. H. Loring of Valparaiso was employed as attorney by the petitioners to dispute this question with the railroad in the interest of the public and the land owners assessed. Mr. Loring had considerable
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experience in connection with petitions for ditches along the Kankakee and had acquired an enviable reputation as well as rendering unselfish and valuable service in aiding the courts in the interpretation of the drainage law in Indiana. The railroad company combined in legal talent to maintain the position they had theretofore maintained and after a strong and vigorous contest in the Supreme Court, the contention of Mr. Loring was adopted and all items of drainage for the construction of bridges on the Ludington Ditch was eliminated and the law declared to bar such contention in the future. This decision was handed down just prior to the trial on remonstrances in the Burns Ditch and the law as established followed and this decision saved the land owners benefited by the Burns Ditch at least $150,000.
On account of the years of legal controversy, the original contract for the construction of the ditch had been annulled and after the United States Supreme Court’s decision, there were other injunctions and court actions to be disposed of before a new construction contract could be made. These were finally adjusted out of court in 1923, or fourteen years after the original commissioners report. In August, 1923, a construction contract was made with Clyde A. Walb amounting to $283,569.00 but additional expense became necessary so that the total cost of the ditch when completed amounted to $335,134.15. In addition, seven new railroad bridges had to be constructed at a cost of $500,000 and four new highway bridges costing $200,000. The total cost including the ditch being $1,035,134.15. The total area directly benefited is 20,000 acres and the total area drained is 400 square miles with increased land value through reclamation amounting to more than $10,000,000.
Colonel Melton states that the marshes of the Calumet were formed in a similar way to the Pontine Marshes of Italy — by the deposit of sand washed by the waters and blown up by the winds, forming a barrier between the sea and the inland swamps. It took 560 years to drain the Pontine Marshes but only eighteen years to build the Burns Ditch and dispose of litigation. The Burns Ditch drains the Calumet Marshes like the Pontine Marshes are drained, by cutting through the barrier which had accumulated between the marshes and the lake. Improved machinery made possible the speedy construction of the Burns Ditch, the Broderick machine having a boom 115 feet long and lifting six tons of sand in a single sweep, accomplishing as much as an army of men employed in the construction of the Roman Pontine Ditch which is still in as good condition as when completed about 1500 years ago.
The main channel of the Burns Ditch through the sand dunes to Lake Michigan is 1 1/8 miles long and the river section from the head of Burns Ditch to Deep River is about 6 ½ miles long. The main channel through the Dunes to the Lake is 70 feet wide at bottom and from 130 to 300
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feet wide at top with cuts from 30 to 60 feet. The river section is fifty feet wide at bottom and seventy-five feet wide at top with a depth of twenty feet. The total amount of sand and silt removed in construction was 2,644,133 cubic yards. The water in the Little Calumet River was lowered eight feet below the surrounding level of the swamps and at high water the level is two feet below the top of the ditch.
Many people expressed doubt as to the main channel remaining clear of sand and believed that sand would be blown into the ditch and render it useless. Constant observation has shown that sand no longer blows in the ditch and scarring at the bottom had added another foot to its depth. A delta of noticeable size has been created at the outlet of the ditch in Lake Michigan forming considerable new land which now extends nearly 600 feet beyond the jetties. Between the South Broadway bridge and the mouth of the ditch there is a fall of thirteen feet which provides ample (low for the river and there is a fall of ten feet between the South Broadway bridge and the head of the ditch near Deep River. As an example of engineering ability the Burns Ditch is a great accomplishment and its beneficial results will be felt and appreciated for centuries.
KANKAKEE SWAMPS.
When the first white explorers, traders and trappers visited the Kankakee region, they reported a limitless extent of swamps and marshes, uninhabited and desolate, and frequented only by wild animals and unfriendly savages. Venturesome hunters and trappers explored it thoroughly and it soon became known as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, fishing, hunting and trapping territories in the Middle West. The Indian name of the Kankakee was the A-Ki-Ki, meaning Wolf Land River, and the name originated according to some authorities from a band of Mohicans who called themselves “Wolves” and who settled on the banks of the river near what is now the city of South Bend and just prior to the advent of the early explorers. It is claimed it was from this band of Mohicans that Charlevoix, the French Missionary, in 1721, recruited his force on his voyage to the Mississippi by the way of the Kankakee.
It was early discovered that by way of the St. Joseph River and the A-Ki-Ki, a water route existed from South Michigan to the prairie lands of the Mississippi and near South Bend where the two rivers almost met, only a short portage was necessary for a continuous water journey. As a result the river came into early prominence as a means of travel to the West.
The prairie marshes of the Kankakee in the early days varied from two to fifteen miles in width and there were hundreds of small islands from one-half to twenty acres in size scattered throughout the course of
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the stream. On some of these islands the sycamore and oak grew to a very large size, grape vines were everywhere and huckleberry bushes grew in profusion. The swamps were a favorite haunt for nearly every variety of game birds including several species of the snipe family, the wood duck and many other species of ducks. It was a great nesting place for wild geese and thousands of them frequented a particular section of the marsh which became generally known as Goose Lake. It was a natural home for the mink and muskrat and raccoons were found in great numbers. The otter and beaver were found to a limited extent as compared with the muskrat, but lynx and wolves were common.
FUR BEARING WEALTH.
The amount of fur taken in the Kankakee region cannot even be nearly estimated. Indians, Frenchmen, Englishmen and Americans all engaged in it during different periods and in the early half of the nineteenth century, the output of furs rivaled, if not exceeded, all other sections. During this period the white trappers who had gradually replaced the disappearing red men had better equipment and the seasons “take” materially increased to such an extent that the Kankakee swamps were known not only in this country but in Europe as well. It is known that the yield as late as 1872 when steel traps were in general use, was 30,000 muskrat skins and thousands of skins of other fur-bearing animals which were sold to traders by trappers in the Kankakee region.
That the earlier trappers before the advent of steel traps were able to obtain a large quantity of skins speaks well for the ingenuity shown in the design and construction of the old style traps, though much inferior to the steel traps. Among the old style traps used by the early trappers was a suspended log operating by a stick trigger made of wood, the animal being killed by the fall of the suspended log. Another was the “hole in the hollow tree” trap with bait suspended inside the tree and which caught the animals head in a sloping crevice at the bottom of the hole; still another type of trap was the snare trap or swinging trap which caught the animal’s head in a loop and swung him in the air.
A favorite trap for the larger animals and used very successfully was a pen built of logs in a side hill or bluff with a trap door on top. Bait was suspended over the trap door and if a wolf, lynx, or fox, for which this trap was especially designed, decided to obtain the bait, he would be forced to step on the trap door which would quickly drop him into the pen from which there was no escape. With the appearance of steel traps and an increase in the number of trappers there was a tremendous output of skins until the region became exhausted of its wealth and the business unprofitable about 1885.
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HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS OF THE KANKAKEE — 1830 TO 1880.
Many of the smaller islands in the Kankakee River were early appropriated by trappers for headquarters and after 1850 hunting clubs erected substantial buildings and made many improvements on some of the larger islands. One of the first settlers to locate on the banks of the stream was George Eaton in 1830, who with his family had a log cabin on the right bank of the river near Pottawattomie Ford. He began pioneer life as a ferry man, operating what was known as the Eaton Ferry and twelve years later had the contract to carry the mail across the Kankakee swamps, there being a mail route established at that time between Michigan City and Rensselaer. In the winter of 1849 he built a toll bridge across the river which was burned a short time after its erection, but Mr. Eaton continued to operate the ferry until his death in 1851. Mrs. Eaton then operated the ferry until 1857 when it came into the possession of a man named Sawyer who continued to operate the ferry and carry mail for several years. He built a saw mill and did a good lumber business floating the logs down the river. Later Enos Baum operated the ferry and mill and about 1863 he built a bridge which was taken over by the county commissioners of Porter and Jasper counties about 1865.
Near the bridge a party of hunters from Pittsburg built a club house in 1876 and nearby was another club house built by a party of hunters from Louisville, Ky. Later in the same locality a very fine club house was built by the White House Club. In 1873 the Columbia Hunting Club, composed of business men of Hebron, built a club house on Deserters Island, famous years before as being a headquarters for deserters and fugitives from justice. Heath and Milligan of Chicago bought land on School Grove Island and in 1869 built a Sportsmen’s resort named Camp Milligan and it soon had a wide reputation. Visitors came from many of the leading American cities and even from abroad to hunt and fish. William Parker, said to be of a noble birth, and Captain Blake were English visitors in 1871 and were so pleased with their experiences that they returned the next year with Mr. Parker’s brother and built the Cumberland Lodge which soon became known for the lavish expenditures indulged in its maintenance. A fine dwelling house and barns, kennels of choice hunting dogs, Alderney cows and fancy bred horses were a part of the costly establishment which after the return to England of the Parker brothers became the property of some Chicago business men who maintained it for a number of years.
There were many trading stores which did a large business on some of the best and more conveniently located islands, among them were the stores of Bertrand and LaVoire on Red Oak Island and another on Big White Oak Island kept by a Frenchman named Laslie. Mike Haskins
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made his headquarters on Indian Island which had been the hunting and camping grounds of the Pottawattomie Indians even before the era of white explorers. Werich states in “Pioneer Hunters of the Kankakee” that Haskins was on guard in Harrison’s Army at Tippecanoe and detected the approach of the Indians, firing the first shot of alarm which indicated their presence. Shortly after the close of the Civil War some prairie farmers who owned swamp land bought Indian Island and formed the Indian Island Saw Mill Company. The house built for the mill operators is still standing in good condition. During this period the business along the river had reached such proportions that several steamers were in operation hauling freight and supplies, and this service continued for many years. John Condon of Chicago established headquarters on one of the islands which was a favorite resort for Chicago sportsmen. H. J. McSheehy of Logansport, Indiana in his first hunting trip in 1875 used the first breech-loaders on the Kankakee and they were soon in general use. General Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur. was a frequent visitor at the Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Rockville Club houses near Baum’s Bridge.
The Kankakee Valley Hunting Club composed of Chicago explorers built a club house on Indian Island in 1908 but duck shooting became a thing of the past very shortly through the reclamation of the swamps and the club house was removed. Allen Dutcher was the first trapper with headquarters on Grape Island and John France and James Cotton came into possession of Dutcher’s property in 1876. While France was absent on a trip Cotton was murdered but his murderer was not apprehended. Other old time trappers who were noted in this region were Josuah E. Essex and J. E. Gilson who had a hunting cabin on Butternut Ridge: Charles Cassel who had a hunting cabin on Shanty Island; Sam Irvin with headquarters on Little Beach; John Hunter who lived on School Grove Island; Eben Buck who was noted for his ability to skin and dress more hides than any man on the River; Bill Granger and two brothers, Jerry and Holland Sherwood, for many years successful trappers; Honey Bee Sawyer, Marion and Filander Stevens, Joe Cason, Hod Folson and Charles Carmon, noted bee hunters; Harrison Folson and Rens Brainard, distinguished in being the first trappers to use steel traps on the river, which they put in operation in the fall of 1845, and are said to have been the first American trappers on the river.
J. Sylvestor Werich was a noted trapper for years on the Kankakee. His grandfather, Dye, was the first settler on Horse Prairie in 1836. Werich is the author of a recent very interesting publication entitled “Pioneer Hunting on the Kankakee.” La Bonta, a French fur trader, was the first white man to settle on French Island. While his business was largely fur trading he also did considerable trapping. Two or three
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French families lived on the Island with La Bonta. There were also a few members of the Pottawattomie tribe who had been permitted by the war department to stay in the Kankakee region. Among them were two famous chiefs named Killbuck and Sheubana. It was on this island that a complete outfit of counterfeiting tools, dyes, plates, etc., was found, evidently an outfit which belonged to the gang of counterfeiters which in the early 60’s made their headquarters on Bogue Island. Many of the islands here mentioned are islands no longer and the reclaimed land has become highly productive farms.
RECLAMATION OF THE KANKAKEE MARSHES.
The physical characteristics of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties are very similar. The northern section is a sandy belt but the central zone extending south to the divide is a beautifully undulating prairie with rich soil. From the divide the land slopes gently to the marshes of the Kankakee River, which river is the southern boundary of most of this territory, and between the divide and the marshes are fertile prairie lands and groves, with many productive farms. The Kankakee marshes constituted the largest body of swamp land in the state, approximating 500,000 acres in seven counties which the river drains. The name of Kankakee swamps given to this region by Major Long in his report and its earlier reputation as offering no possibility for settlement turned the thoughts of settlers in other directions but proper investigation showed great opportunities for reclamation. Reclaiming these marsh lands was an early thought of the settlers and in 1858 a large ditch was excavated which showed that drainage was practicable, and would bring under cultivation thousands of acres of the very richest soil. A law passed by the Legislature made possible organized drainage effort on a large scale, and the Kankakee Valley Drainage Association was formed to reclaim a large section. The powers given the association by law did not meet with general approval and formidable opposition against the association was developed with the result that its promoters decided not to proceed with their plans and the organization was permitted to languish.
In the history of Indiana nothing in the way of ignorance and lack of foresight can be found to compare with that of the citizens and landowners who opposed the drainage of the Kankakee Valley. Looking back at the wide benefits which have accrued to the various counties through which the Kankakee flows and the thousands of acres of land which have been reclaimed and now producing bounteous crops, the large tracts of land outside the marsh area which were greatly improved through the various ditches and, the fine roads which now cross the marsh territory made possible through the drainage of the swamps, it is almost piteous to contemplate that such a farsighted business man and constructive pio-
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neer like Judge William C. Hannah should be driven from LaPorte by the ignorant and unenlightened citizenship of that section and seek a home elsewhere because of his commendable efforts in passing the State Ditch Law of 1869. Members of the Legislature — Church and Pierce of Porter County; Bradley and Wile of LaPorte, and Reynolds of St. Joseph — also were bitterly denounced by many farmers who, with a density of mind and woeful lack of vision, could not see the benefits to accrue to nearly all the land tributary to the Kankakee. Politically the members of this section who voted for the bill were ruined for a time and they could not have been more bitterly denounced had they been actual traitors to their country.
Regardless of the hostility and opposition of a large section of the farmers and other citizens, another ditch was dug in 1870 and this was followed by dredging the Kankakee tributaries and much valuable land was reclaimed. It had been noticed that in a sudden wet season the water which covered the land did not overflow from the river but came down from the higher lands and it could be plainly seen coming up out of the ground. Proper drainage therefore required that the tributaries of the Kankakee should be made to assist in the work of reclamation and that the river branches as well as the main stream should be deepened to make more rapid outlet for the river water. In 1884, steam dredge boats were brought into service and the south as well as the north side of the Kankakee River soon had many large ditches. Investigation showed that the removal of a ledge of limestone rock at Momence (formerly Rapids), Illinois, about seven miles from the state line, would have an important effect in lowering the water in the Indiana marsh section. The matter was brought before the Indiana Legislature and in all there was appropriated $60,000 to be expended in the removal of the ledge, which was removed under the direction of J. D. Moran & Co. in 1893 with most gratifying results.
The soil of the lands reclaimed is a dark sandy loam, rich in organic matter and varied from three to six feet in depth. Some wealthy business men from Pontiac, Illinois, formed a syndicate called the La Crosse Land Co., in the year 1900, and the investigation of their engineers showed that nearly every acre of land which would be reclaimed could be brought under cultivation and was particularly adapted to certain profitable crops, and that the soil, generally, when reclaimed, would be of the same character as above described and much of it of greater average depth. The La Crosse Land Co. purchased 7,000 acres of Huncheon Brothers, longtime residents of the Kankakee Valley, and the reported price for the tract was $165,000. They gradually acquired other tracts of land and other companies were organized in which either the members of the La Crosse Land Co. or their friends were interested. One of the associated
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companies known as the Tuesburg Land Co., originally purchased 4,480 acres. Another known as the McWilliams Land Co., made original purchases amounting to 5,280 acres, and in a short time the La Crosse Land Co. and the associated companies owned more than 50,000 acres of land nearly all of which it was hoped to reclaim.
Among some of the business men interested in the above companies were Charles H. Tuesburg, David S. Meyers, John Murphy, C. E. Legg, A. N. Legg, W. F. Cook, Lemuel Darrow, James Brown, B. F. Johnson, Frank J. Cook, Rev. Thomas Doney, Thomas Foohey, John McWilliams, Sr.,John McWilliams, Jr., and W. F. VanBuskirk. In the activities of these companies many private landowners cooperated and the combined interests controlled more than forty miles of river front. Their efforts at reclamation met the same hostility from farmers which had been encountered by their predecessors but this time ignorance and prejudice met its match in a combination of brains and capital which was bound to succeed. The struggle lasted for years and was carried in and out of court, but the companies persisted in the accomplishment of their object and, it is due largely to their initiative and their consistent efforts that the LaPorte County marsh lands especially underwent systematic drainage on a large scale.
The cost of the ditches generally has been paid by an assessment on the benefited lands, with the exception of the lands owned by individuals and companies who have brought their own lands under cultivation through their own drainage systems, which lands they themselves cultivate, or lease or sell to settlers when reclaimed. The Kankakee Reclamation Co. was organized in 1902, having for its object to deepen, widen and straighten the Kankakee River which rises near South Bend in St. Joseph County and flows very slowly with bends and turns. This company proposed by a system of ditches to cut out bends in the river, shortening its course and materially increasing the fall of the water per mile. This work consisted mainly of a ditch from Section 24 in Hanna Township, where the Place ditch ends, to the Porter County line. The ditch followed the general course of the river but cut off nearly all bends. Through cutting out the bends forty-five miles of the length of the river was reduced to seventeen miles and the fall of water increased from 4.34 inches per mile to 14.2 inches per mile.
It is said 150,000 acres of land in LaPorte and Starke County have been reclaimed through this ditch, which is from 8 to 12 feet deep and 40 to 50 feet wide at the bottom. Most of the distance it is 70 feet wide on top and in one section is 80 feet wide on top. To aid in the work and enable the property owners benefited to pay their assessments on the installment plan, LaPorte County issued bonds to the amount of $79,500 to be paid in installments during a period of seventeen years, while Starke
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County issued bonds to the amount of $40,500 which were to be paid in installments during fourteen years. The average cost of lateral ditching was about $1,000 per mile while the cost of river work or ditching along the general course of the Kankakee to cut off its bends was nearly $6,000 per mile. The Place ditch was the initial undertaking on the part of those interested in the associated companies and on it was concentrated the bitterest opposition of those who were opposed to ditch undertakings in LaPorte County. So strong was the hostility against the enterprise that the life of some of those interested in building the ditch was threatened.
The Place ditch is over 22 miles long, uniformly 60 feet wide, 8 feet deep, and drains an area of 50 miles square. It cost $66,000 and took two and one-half years to construct, including the time taken in litigation, which delayed operations. The Machler ditch was constructed under the authority of the LaPorte Circuit Court. It was 36 feet wide at the commencement and 50 feet wide where it emptied into the Kankakee River and averaged 8 feet deep. It is ten miles long and drains a large area for its distance. The Cook ditch is fourteen miles long and drains some of the most valuable soil in the entire territory. These three lateral ditches have the greatest drainage value and the cost was apportioned among the owners of the land benefited. Tributary to the public ditches, the companies have also built many miles of open ditches around and across their own lands and have been generous in the use of tile drains, which have made it possible to construct hard surface roads on which heavy loads can be hauled the year around, where formerly travel was confined in some sections to only a few months in the year.
The “Danielson arm” of the Place ditch is river work which makes the Place ditch practically a river ditch. Through its construction, sixty-five miles of the length of the river has been reduced to twenty-two miles and in connection with the ditch of the Kankakee Reclamation Co., Ill miles of the length of the river has been shortened to thirty-nine. So efficient are the ditches in the work for which they are designed that in the ordinary season much of the old river channel is dry or nearly so, the water following the new straight and faster flowing course of the main ditches. Too much credit can not be given to the La Crosse syndicate for the marvelous transformation which they have accomplished in LaPorte County, and the fine homes and outbuildings which they have erected on many half sections of reclaimed lands. Lessees or purchasers of land from these companies have the full benefit of engineering skill in their homes and surroundings. The companies have been a great constructive force in adding lasting wealth to the county. They have built roads, bridges, schools, stores, fences; and hundreds of happy homes are among the results of their work. Crops produced from these reclaimed lands are almost
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unbelievable in volume and value, and this territory has become one of the garden spots of America.
The town of La Crosse in the heart of this reclaimed area is a prosperous community and a growing center of trade. The success of the La Crosse syndicate naturally gave an impetus to other reclamation projects, and in 1903 the Kankakee River Improvement Co. were stimulated to activity in the carrying out of their project, which was the excavating of a ditch to extend from Mud Lake to the Place ditch intersection. One arm of the ditch extends from Walkerton to Mud Lake — another arm from the Wabash crossing to Mud Lake. To assist in this project the commissioners of St. Joseph County ordered an issue of $16,000 in bonds and LaPorte County an issue of $30,000 in bonds, which bonds were to be paid by the property owners in the regular way by assessments on the installment plan. This ditch was of an extremely beneficial character and reclaimed a very large area of land.
The reclamation of Porter and Lake counties’ marsh lands was given early attention and great progress was made. The main courses are the Singleton ditch named after W. F. Singleton who was formerly agent of the Lake County Agricultural Society, and the Ackerman, Griesel, Hart and Brown ditches. Large tracts of land have been reclaimed in both counties and thousands of acres of former marsh lands are now among the most productive farms in the state and adding millions of dollars to the wealth of the counties. The present main ditch channel of the Kankakee River from the Eastern LaPorte line to the Western Lake County line and into which all lateral ditches feed is composed of the Miller ditch from the LaPorte County line to Mud Lake, the Kankakee River Improvement ditch from Mud Lake to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Danielson Arm of the Place ditch to the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Kankakee Reclamation ditch from the Pennsylvania Railroad to the Porter County line, the Marble ditch from Porter County line to Water Valley, and the Davis ditch from Water Valley to the Illinois boundary or western Lake County line.
For many years Hon. Lemuel Darrow of LaPorte has been a recognized authority on ditch legislation and reclamation in Northern Indiana and his advice and counsel has had much to do with the success achieved by many of the companies in carrying out their reclamation projects. To perpetuate game life on the Kankakee for which it was once famous both in this country and abroad, Mr. Darrow and some other citizens in Southern LaPorte County purchased 2,300 acres of land in Starke and St. Joseph counties and presented it to the state conservation department, who set it aside as a permanent game preserve in which at no time will hunting or fishing be allowed. The land is a part of the former bed of the Kankakee River left dry by drainage ditches, and extends for a distance
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of about six miles above English Lake and varying in width from one-quarter
to one-half mile. English Lake has been especially attractive to wild water
fowl and the land set aside in the preserve was a famous section for small
fur bearing animals. The overflow of game from this preserve is expected to
improve hunting on land adjacent.
NAVIGATION OF
HISTORY OF THE LAKE AND CALUMET REGION OF INDIANA
FOREWARD
AN APPRECIATION
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I - Geology and Topography
CHAPTER II - The Mound Builders
CHAPTER III - Days of Indian Occupancy
CHAPTER IV - Early Explorations
CHAPTER V - Border Warfare
CHAPTER VI - Lake and Calumet Region Becomes Part of United States
CHAPTER VII - After Wayne and Greenville - Tecumseh and the Prophet
CHAPTER VIII - Indian Peace
CHAPTER IX - Early Settlements and Pioneers - County Organization
CHAPTER X - Townships - Towns - Villages
CHAPTER XI - Pioneer Life
CHAPTER XII - The Lake Michigan Marshes
CHAPTER XIII - Agriculture and Livestock
CHAPTER XIV - Military Annals
CHAPTER XV - The Lake and Calumet Region in the World War
CHAPTER XVI - The Newspapers
CHAPTER XVII - The Medical Profession
CHAPTER XVIII - The Bench and Bar in the Lake and Calumet Region
CHAPTER XIX - Churches
CHAPTER XX - Schools
CHAPTER XXI - Libraries
CHAPTER XXII - Social Life
CHAPTER XXIII - The Dunes of Northwestern Indiana
CHAPTER XXIV - Banks and Banking
CHAPTER XXV - Transportation and Waterways
CHAPTER XXVI - Cities
CHAPTER XXVII - Industrial Development
CHAPTER XXVIII - Chambers of Commerce
Transcribed by Steven R. Shook, December 2022