Aukiki River Festival

05/29/2026

Most Native-Americans were relocated west of the Mississippi by 1840. However, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi avoided removal. I want to thank Dr. Mark Schurr for contributing to this column.
In Indiana, treaties between the Native-Americans and the U. S. government began with the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 and culminated with the Treaty of Chicago in 1833.The Indian Removal Act signed in 1830 authorized the federal government to negotiate treaties with the purpose of removing all Indians to lands west of the Mississippi.

Potawatomi Chief Leopold Pokagon came to the belief that if his tribe would convert to Catholicism it would be allowed to remain. In 1830 Leopold traveled to the Detroit Diocese and requested a "black robe" to be assigned to his tribe. Pokagon and his wife were then baptized by Vicar General Father Frederick Rese. In late 1830 Father Stephen Baden established the mission to serve Pokagon's tribe, afterwards the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi was officially recognized. Catholic Indians and those willing to convert joined Pokagon's tribe.

Pokagon's tribe had claim to around 1 million acres of land in Southeast Michigan, Northwest Indiana and the area in Illinois around present day Chicago. Pokagon was leveraged into selling all of his lands for a paltry 3 cents per acre— collecting the funds presented a problem.

With the initial annuity payments Pokagon purchased 874 acres in Cass County, Michigan. Father Badin then petitioned the government to amend the 1833 Chicago Treaty of Chicago to exempt Pokagon's his tribe from forced removal. In 1840 the Michigan Supreme Court decided that Pokagon's Catholic Potawatomi were protected from relocation. Leopold Pokagon's victory was short lived before his death in 1841. Pokagon’s successor—his son Simon— was required to secure his tribes rights and establish their new home in Michigan.

I believe Simon's mother's wisdom to have him educated in the ways of the white man in white schools is what gave Simon the foundation to deal with the roadblocks he faced completing his father's work. His first hurdle was to persuade the government to honor their payment obligations. He realized success eventually, but it was not until 1896 that the government finally made good on its debt—nearly 50 years after the sale! Although, Simon died in poverty his descendants, because of his efforts, was later to build the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan securing his tribe's financial security. In 1994 President Bill Clinton signed legislation affirming The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi sovereignty.

Pictured is Leopold Pokagon.

05/25/2026

05/22/2026

The Kankakee Marsh was justifiably reputed as a lawless land. Many an unsavory character plied his criminal trade along the Kankakee and justice was scarce. In response to this threat a group of men came together and formed the vigilantly group named the Jasper Rangers.

In 1852 John McIntyre and his family were scouting for suitable farm land to purchase. They left their camp and on their return found that their wagon and all of their possessions were gone. Later McIntyre wrote a paper titled "The Jasper Rangers." Many felt that McIntyre knew too much about the Rangers and was most likely a Ranger himself. At that time juries could be bought or intimidated into releasing captured criminals and the public needed to solve this lawlessness. The Rangers were made up of citizens from Porter, Jasper, Starke and LaPorte counties. They were a secretive group and actually lived near the scoundrels in the marshlands. Citizens from all walks of life made up the group. McIntyre wrote: "They supplied their own side arms and rifles. They shot from ambush or out in the open, from duck blinds, trappers' shanties, or from any place necessary to get their man." McIntyre wrote: "Courts in those days were sometimes corrupt. The Jasper Rangers soon dispensed with those agencies. All they needed to know was that "this was the man" and when sufficiently assured they coolly shot him, and buried him along the roadside."

One well-armed group of timber thieves from Momence mercilessly murdered anyone that interfered with their activities—including land owners. The gang would cut the trees below the waterline, so no stump was visible, and then raft it down river, selling it to a sawmill. An unnamed old river man told: "One day one of our neighbors on Lone Oak Island discovered a cross-cut saw, some wedges, an ax, and two peavies hidden under some brush beside the river." These were recognized as the tools of timber thieves. The Rangers set up a stake-out. Eventually the thieves returned. The Old Timer went on: "The watchers let them get going on a big oak tree — and three cracks from accurate rifles ended their career...Hyde's cemetery was on Lone Tree Island. So the vigilantes dragged the crooks over to the edge of Hyde's cemetery and dug a somewhat shallow grave and dumped all three in it. With them was buried that cache of lumbering tools."

Many of the criminals lived on secluded island up and down the river. On one well chosen night, when most of the villains were grouped together, the Rangers made simultaneous raids on many of the island hideouts. It turned into a mass ex*****on and an unknown number of criminals were buried on the spot. McIntyre wrote "There were a few arrests, but attorneys bewildered the witnesses so that some doubt existed as to his reliability and discharges were frequent." I'm sure many of the jury members were supportive of the Rangers' actions. Eventually peace and justice came to the Kankakee River and the Jasper Rangers disbanded.

Go here to read “Last of the Timber Thieves:” https://kankakeevalleyhistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=2572

05/01/2026

In my last posting I told you the story of the first steamboats on the Kankakee built by Del Kellogg and Sol Gordon. In this column I will tell you the tale of the rest of the life of the mighty steam engine that drove the second steamboat.

Adelbert "Del" Kellogg was born in 1856 in Valparaiso. He was the son of Denis and Lucelia (Norton) Kellogg. He operated the Kellogg Foundry in Valparaiso until the foundry was sold to McGill Manufacturing in 1905. The foundry built machinery for mowing machines, saw mills and the engine for the steamboat Kellogg and Gordon ran from Baum's Bridge to Momence.

After the steamboat was broken up, around 1880, it was sold to the Vidette newspaper in Valparaiso and used to run its press. In a few years a more powerful motor was installed and the former steamboat engine was sold to Lew Mandeville to power a tour boat on Flint lake. Later it was then sold to Aaron Lytle to run a sawmill located on Franklin Street in Valparaiso. Then it traveled to Chesterton where it powered the Chesterton Tribune press. And finally it went to Arkansas to run water pumps. I believe that is where the engine lived out the rest of its life. Now comes the remarkable and hilarious part of this story.

By 1883 Thomas Edison had invented the electric light and dynamo to produce the electricity. Only a few cities had power plants at the time. Valparaiso citizen George Conover wanted Valparaiso to be one.

Much of the rest of this story comes from a 1934 Siftings column in the Vidette-Messenger. Conover approached Charley Talcott of the Vidette for permission to hook up his dynamo to the former Kankakee River steamboat engine for a demonstration of the "new fangled light." The engine is described as an eight horsepower upright boiler and "it was considered dangerous to carry more than 60 pounds of steam." A wire had been strung from the Vidette office to the site of the demonstration at the corner of Washington and Lincolnway in downtown Valparaiso.

Finally the night of the exhibition came! A. J. Bowser later wrote: "Steam was raised to 60 pounds, the dynamo started––not a flicker. 100 pounds––nothing doing. Talcott called for kerosene barrel staves. In those days the grocers bought their kerosene in barrels, and the staves made a very hot fire. The gauge showed 120 pounds. The smokestack turned red, then white––140 pounds. Still nothing doing. The engine was dancing on its block. And still no light. As a last resort Taclott removed the governors and for probably a few seconds, but what seemed hours to us, the light showed. How we all escaped being blown to kingdom come that night, I do not know. The spectators ridiculed the contraption and vowed they would stick to their kerosene lamps yet awhile. But Conover was not licked. The next night he got Albert Zimmerman to put his 20 horsepower threshing steam engine in the Keene alley, and we got plenty of light."

So ends the story of the little former Kankakee River steamboat engine that could!

04/24/2026

Most early Kankakee River settlers trapped, hunted, farmed and logged. All of these activities required a means to get their product to market. The river met most of those needs. The problem was that the Kankakee was a rather slow and cantankerous waterway. Steamboats solved this predicament.

It is reported that the fist steamboat to ply the Kankakee was in around 1874. A sawmill in Willvale, LaPorte County had a contract to supply railroad ties for the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. Getting the logs to the sawmill was not a problem, but transporting the ties to the railroad station in Davies, Indiana was difficult. Sol Gordon of Hebron came up with a solution. He built a flatboat and Del Kellogg of Valparaiso installed a paddlewheel steam engine to propel the boat. It worked and the ties were delivered but not without issues. A better vessel was needed to provide a more reliable means to move timber.

A few years later Kellogg and Gordon constructed an improved steamboat. They planned to transport cordwood— which had little value in the vicinity of their headquarters located at Baum's Bridge— to Momence where there was a market for the cordwood. At that time wood was the primary fuel for most steam engines used along the Kankakee River. Years later, coal would become the main fuel for steam engines. Momence was a center for sawmills and other steam-driven industries. Gordon built a 35 by 9 foot boat. Del Kellogg and his father Denis supplied and installed the engine, boiler and other necessary fittings to power the boat. The Kelloggs’ owned a iron foundry on W. Indiana Avenue in Valparaiso.

Gordon built two additional barges to carry the wood. Jerry Sherwood and Frank Ritt of Hebron cut the trees down and floated the logs to the dock where they were loaded on the barges. Sherwood with his vast knowledge of the river from trapping and hunting it was hired as the pilot. The maiden voyage consisted of a shipment of 75 cords of wood. The plan needed some tweaking—towing the barges was not working. The men cut poles and pushed the barges instead. A day and a half later they delivered the first load to Momence.

For much of the year the Kankakee River was too shallow to use as a dependable transportation means. Additionally, in order to get the logs to the barges the marshes needed to be high enough to float the timber to the loading dock. Being enterprising men, Kellogg, Gordon and Sherwood hired out their steamboat to hunters during the low-water season.

The business was very successful until the Monon Railroad built a low bridge across the Kankakee near Shelby which severely restricted river traffic.

The Kankakee was often felt to be an unreliable transportation system. The initial reason given to drain and channelize the marsh was for improved transportation. Kellogg proved that it could be profitability used as was!

In a future posting I will tell you the very interesting story of what happened to the steam engine after the steamboat was broken-up.

04/17/2026

The Childers family was one of the earliest families to settle the Kankakee Marsh in Lake County, Indiana. Thomas Childers was born in 1810 in Miami County, Ohio. In 1831 Thomas married Sarah Hopkins — they had six children that are known of. In 1834 Thomas and Sarah made the trek to Lake County, Ind. Thomas’s brother Joseph either traveled with them or followed soon after. Presumably they traveled the trail that followed Ridge Road in northern Lake County. It is believed that Sarah was pregnant with her second child during the journey to Indiana, but lost it soon after arriving in Lake County.

Thomas and Sarah originally settled in Cedar Creek; however Native American presence caused them to move further south. In October 1834, they built their cabin on a site about two miles north of the present day Town of Schneider. The area was first known as School Grove, later changed to Oak Grove. Solon Robinson, founder of Crown Point, arrived in Lake County on the last day of October of 1834,—soon after the Childers. Thomas became involved with the growing community of south Lake County. He was a member of the Squatters Union, Overseers of the Poor and later Road Commissioner in Porter County. Diseases were quite common at that time and struck down even the hardiest pioneers. Thomas died of scarlet fever in 1843 or 1844 at the age of 33.

Thomas's youngest sons, George W. and John, served in the Civil War. George later became a successful farmer in Porter County and was active in the G. A. R. John, Thomas's youngest son, became ill shortly after joining the 73rd Indiana. He succumbed to measles just outside of Nashville, Tenn.

George W. Childers was born in 1838. In 1850, records show him living in Porter County along with his mother and siblings. In 1857 George married Tryphena Ferguson. After returning from his service in the Civil War he and Tryphena settled on a 10 acre parcel one mile east of Baum’s Bridge. George and Tryphena had five children — three lived to adulthood. George passed away in 1920, three years after Tryphena’s passing.

George and Tryphena’s youngest son was William “Porter” Childers — born in 1860. Porter treasured the Kankakee River; his poems of the Kankakee earned him the name of “Poet of the Kankakee”. He spoke eloquently of the Kankakee drawing on his love of the river and gift of expression. In 1934 Porter was interviewed for the Vidette – Messenger.

Most of his life Porter knew the Kankakee before it was channelized. Sorrowfully, Porter told of the loss of “the old river when it was converted into a dirty ditch, which ended it for all time to come. I remember when nature had her own wild way, you didn’t have to have a rule cut on your fishing rod to measure the fish you caught; there was never any to throw back. But there's not much fishing now because, for one thing, the water's too swift.” William Porter passed in 1936. His poetry remains as a testament to the beauty of the Kankakee. Many Thomas and Joseph Childers family decedents remain in the area to this date.

Porter is seated on the far left in this posting image. Go here to read “The Old Kankakee” by Porter Childers: https://kankakeevalleyhistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=2928