HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY


shaped copper ax and a slate gorget. The bones were reinterred but subse-
quently carried off by unknown parties.
When the first settlers appeared, and undoubtedly many years prior to that,
the natives were found living mainly in three good-sized permanent villages,
each containing several hundred souls,-at the Rapids, at Two Rivers, and
at
the "Forks" of the Manitowoc river. There were also a number of
much smaller
villages, so-called encampments, near some favorite hunting or fishing grounds,
consisting of a group of closely allied families,-as well as numerous solitary
wigwams scattered about in the dense forest or near some stream.
The well known Indian village at Manitowoc Rapids consisted of a band of
Chippewas, with an admixture of Ottawas and Pottawottomies, situated about
two miles from the river's mouth, where the historic Indian trail that hugged
the west shore of Lake Michigan, leading from Chicago to Fort Howard, crossed
the river. This important and well known trail became the Green Bay Military
Road.
This beautiful and romantic spot was a veritable red man's paradise. That
it was so considered by them is evidenced by its meaning, Manitowoc, "the
home of the Great Spirit." The sloping river banks, covered with pine
and
hemlock, and hickory, oak and beech trees, their trunks richly festooned
with
the wild grape. Virginia creeper and woodbine, offered shelter from storm
and
wind, while the wide rich alluvial river bottoms were extensively cultivated
by
the industrious squaws, for acres of ancient "gardenbeds" and corn
fields
abounded everywhere. The primitive forests were infested with bears, wolves,
foxes, lynxes, wild cats, numerous deer, badgers, coons and other wild animals
making it an excellent trapping and hunting ground. Here too was, and con-
tinues to be, the finest fishing place in the county.
The pale faces all too soon recognized its many natural advantages, for
here the first permanent settlement of the county was made, becoming the
county seat until outdistanced by its more formidable rival at the river's
mouth
was chosen such in i853. On the river's banks and among its ravines, nature
lovers and the well-to-do have built their summer cottages, while in place
of
the silent tread of the red hunter are heard the merry peals of laughter
from
numerous picknickers.
At this place was established in 1795, one of a series of "jack knife"
trading
posts by Jean Vieau, agent for the Northwest Fur Company. The plows have
turned up numerous implements and ornaments of flint, stone, bone, shell
and
copper, and fragments of native pottery, as well as trader's beads, iron
trade
axes and mattocks, and other trade material, all of which find their way
to
various local collections. On County House Hill to this day may plainly be
seen a number of cache pits, once used for the storage of corn and other
food
for winter's use. By accident, one of these caches was opened by Mr. Alfred
Lindholm, when several bushels of acorns blackened with age were exposed,
which, however, soon crumbled to dust on exposure to light and air.
The head chief of this mixed Indian village was Waumegesako, or "the
Wam-
pum," or as he was colloquially styled John Y. Mexico, or Mexico. He
was a
man of fine physique, erect, over six feet in height, very dignified and
courteous
in his demeanor, possessing considerable strength of character, and more
than
ordinary intelligence. In his dress he was plain and unassuming, indulging
in


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