Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
III Indian Chiefs to Remember
Wabasis, Cobmossa, Mexinini - all are names of Indian Chiefs of special interest to us because the lived in this part of Michigan. Many stories, some fact, some fiction, have been told about them.
Mexinini was a powerful chief who lived in what is now the Grand Rapids area. he was very dark skinned, some people believed he was part Negro and had been kidnapped from his childhood home in Virginia. His nickname was the Black One.
Mexinini was respected for his fair dealings with the white settlers. The story is told that when he journeyed to Washington to sign a treaty, the President gave Mexinini a fine black suit and tall silk hat. Naturally Mexinini was very proud of his new outfit and wore it upon all occasions when he had dealings with the white men. When Mexinini died, all the white settlers in the Grand Rapids area attended his funeral.
Cobmossa, best known chief of the Grand River valley, had a large Indian village at Lowell's junction of the Flat and Grand Rivers. However, he frequently came up the Grand River as far as Ionia and camped on the river banks. That area is now occupied by the Ionia Free Fair enterprises. In the spring Cobmossa and a group of his Indians journeyed up the Flat River and camped an island a mile or so above Belding. The braves hunted and fished while the squaws tapped the many maple trees in the vicinity and made maple sugar.
Where was this Indian camp? On the island in the river just west of the Arches, the abandoned railroad bridge a few rods south of Kiddville. The island is still called Cobmossa Isle and standing on the hillsides above the Kiddville dam are the very trees tapped by the Indians.
Cobmossa, too, had a nickname, the Walker. Scorning canoe travel, he often walked through the forests for long distances, visiting neighboring tribes as far as Portland and Lansing.
Later Cobmossa moved to an Indian reservation near Shelby. He died while living on the reservation. Some years ago a group of Belding Boy Scouts visited the Indian Cemetery near Hart and found the tombstone marking his grave.
Finally there was Chief Wabasis, White Swan in our language. Surely he must have been very important since a lake, a creek, a hill and a brand of potatoes today bear his name.
Chief Wabasis was believed to be part white, and after coming here from Canada married one of Cobmossa's daughters. He could speak English well and was liked by the white men. So when it became necessary to choose some member of the tribe to bring back to them the gold given for the sale of their land, Wabasis was selected.
However, the amount of gold doled out to the braves by Wabasis was far below what they expected. Disappointed and disgruntled, they protested, but to no avail. Wabasis insisted, "That's all there is, there wasn't anymore!"
Wabasis could have been put to death, but instead it was decreed that he be banished to the shores of a nearby lake, there to live the rest of his life, never venturing more than a mile from his home.
Grateful to have escaped with his life, Wabasis obeyed the order for nearly two years. Then came news of an Autumn Corn Dance in an Indian village near Grand Rapids. "Surely," thought Wabasis, "my friends have forgotten and won't mind if I go." Go he did - but Indians have long memories and hadn't forgotten Wabasis' betrayal. Before the evening was over he became involved in a quarrel with some drunken young braves and was killed. A plaque on a huge boulder not far from Plainfield bridge going into Grand Rapids marks the place of his burial. Legend has it that Wabasis was buried in a sitting position with his head protruding above the ground - a punishment and sign of disrespect for betraying his tribe and his enemies. But, stated his family, this form of burial had always been the wish of Wabasis. Even in death he desired to gaze upon the Grand River valley, the land he loved.
Had Wabasis stolen the tribes gold? If so, what had happened to it? Where was it? There was a report, we never know how these rumors arise, that Wabasis had hidden a huge kettle of gold along the banks of Wabasis Creek or on the shores of the lake that now bears his name. Belding boys of the late 1800's took part many times in searches for the Wabasis gold - digging beneath roots of huge trees and exploring the shores of lake and stream. At that time interest ran high regarding Wabasis' treasure, and poor Belding family who purchased a new parlor organ, a red-wheeled buggy or sparkling driving horse caused much gossip. neighbors viewed their extravagant purchases with suspicion. Surely they were unable to afford such things - had they found the Wabasis gold? The story spread beyond Belding and the amount of the hidden treasure grew and grew. Newspaper stories appeared in many eastern papers. One day a young man got off a train arriving in Belding, went to a hardwar!
e store where he purchased several tools - pickaxes, shovels and spades - and the secured a room at the hotel. Early the next morning, with hired horse and buggy, he left town. He returned late that evening, tired and dirty. The same thing happened day after day. Who was he? Where did he go? What was he doing? The young man said nothing. However, one night when he came back to the inn he was carrying a huge, clumsy wrapped object - something so heavy he appeared to tug it up the stairs. Lights burned in his room all night long, and the next morning on the early train he left town 0 with the heavy bundle but without the tools. Had this stranger from the East found the buried gold? However there is still another story about the pot of gold. Wabasis had a daughter whom he loved very dearly. She fell in love with a young brave of whom her parents disapproved. After they had forbidden her to marry, the two ran away, were married and live happily. Wabasis, however, !
never seemed the same. He became aged and unhappy. Could it be that his dear daughter had stolen the gold?
Wabasis, Cobmossa, Mexinini - all are names of Indian Chiefs of special interest to us because the lived in this part of Michigan. Many stories, some fact, some fiction, have been told about them.
Mexinini was a powerful chief who lived in what is now the Grand Rapids area. he was very dark skinned, some people believed he was part Negro and had been kidnapped from his childhood home in Virginia. His nickname was the Black One.
Mexinini was respected for his fair dealings with the white settlers. The story is told that when he journeyed to Washington to sign a treaty, the President gave Mexinini a fine black suit and tall silk hat. Naturally Mexinini was very proud of his new outfit and wore it upon all occasions when he had dealings with the white men. When Mexinini died, all the white settlers in the Grand Rapids area attended his funeral.
Cobmossa, best known chief of the Grand River valley, had a large Indian village at Lowell's junction of the Flat and Grand Rivers. However, he frequently came up the Grand River as far as Ionia and camped on the river banks. That area is now occupied by the Ionia Free Fair enterprises. In the spring Cobmossa and a group of his Indians journeyed up the Flat River and camped an island a mile or so above Belding. The braves hunted and fished while the squaws tapped the many maple trees in the vicinity and made maple sugar.
Where was this Indian camp? On the island in the river just west of the Arches, the abandoned railroad bridge a few rods south of Kiddville. The island is still called Cobmossa Isle and standing on the hillsides above the Kiddville dam are the very trees tapped by the Indians.
Cobmossa, too, had a nickname, the Walker. Scorning canoe travel, he often walked through the forests for long distances, visiting neighboring tribes as far as Portland and Lansing.
Later Cobmossa moved to an Indian reservation near Shelby. He died while living on the reservation. Some years ago a group of Belding Boy Scouts visited the Indian Cemetery near Hart and found the tombstone marking his grave.
Finally there was Chief Wabasis, White Swan in our language. Surely he must have been very important since a lake, a creek, a hill and a brand of potatoes today bear his name.
Chief Wabasis was believed to be part white, and after coming here from Canada married one of Cobmossa's daughters. He could speak English well and was liked by the white men. So when it became necessary to choose some member of the tribe to bring back to them the gold given for the sale of their land, Wabasis was selected.
However, the amount of gold doled out to the braves by Wabasis was far below what they expected. Disappointed and disgruntled, they protested, but to no avail. Wabasis insisted, "That's all there is, there wasn't anymore!"
Wabasis could have been put to death, but instead it was decreed that he be banished to the shores of a nearby lake, there to live the rest of his life, never venturing more than a mile from his home.
Grateful to have escaped with his life, Wabasis obeyed the order for nearly two years. Then came news of an Autumn Corn Dance in an Indian village near Grand Rapids. "Surely," thought Wabasis, "my friends have forgotten and won't mind if I go." Go he did - but Indians have long memories and hadn't forgotten Wabasis' betrayal. Before the evening was over he became involved in a quarrel with some drunken young braves and was killed. A plaque on a huge boulder not far from Plainfield bridge going into Grand Rapids marks the place of his burial. Legend has it that Wabasis was buried in a sitting position with his head protruding above the ground - a punishment and sign of disrespect for betraying his tribe and his enemies. But, stated his family, this form of burial had always been the wish of Wabasis. Even in death he desired to gaze upon the Grand River valley, the land he loved.
Had Wabasis stolen the tribes gold? If so, what had happened to it? Where was it? There was a report, we never know how these rumors arise, that Wabasis had hidden a huge kettle of gold along the banks of Wabasis Creek or on the shores of the lake that now bears his name. Belding boys of the late 1800's took part many times in searches for the Wabasis gold - digging beneath roots of huge trees and exploring the shores of lake and stream. At that time interest ran high regarding Wabasis' treasure, and poor Belding family who purchased a new parlor organ, a red-wheeled buggy or sparkling driving horse caused much gossip. neighbors viewed their extravagant purchases with suspicion. Surely they were unable to afford such things - had they found the Wabasis gold? The story spread beyond Belding and the amount of the hidden treasure grew and grew. Newspaper stories appeared in many eastern papers. One day a young man got off a train arriving in Belding, went to a hardwar!
e store where he purchased several tools - pickaxes, shovels and spades - and the secured a room at the hotel. Early the next morning, with hired horse and buggy, he left town. He returned late that evening, tired and dirty. The same thing happened day after day. Who was he? Where did he go? What was he doing? The young man said nothing. However, one night when he came back to the inn he was carrying a huge, clumsy wrapped object - something so heavy he appeared to tug it up the stairs. Lights burned in his room all night long, and the next morning on the early train he left town 0 with the heavy bundle but without the tools. Had this stranger from the East found the buried gold? However there is still another story about the pot of gold. Wabasis had a daughter whom he loved very dearly. She fell in love with a young brave of whom her parents disapproved. After they had forbidden her to marry, the two ran away, were married and live happily. Wabasis, however, !
never seemed the same. He became aged and unhappy. Could it be that his dear daughter had stolen the gold?
