Abandoned

This is a bit of the past, forgotten. And strangely beautiful that way.

Three Rivers History Mural (6)

The last view of the mural shows in the background more houses, a church and a bit of downtown. This section is quite damaged. Children are shown in the park, enjoying the Popcorn Stand which is now by the petting zoo. The Popcorn Stand for years provided support - and jobs - for developmentally disabled people.

Three Rivers History Mural (5)

Past the suffragette and the lighthouse, there's a minister (I think - someone will have to write and tell me who this represents), more houses, and a pleasant scene of a modern-day family in the park.

Three Rivers History Mural (3)

The next section of the mural shows the arrival of the first US emigrants to the area. They came to farm, and building mills was also high on their list when they saw the abundant water power. Families established themselves. The first recorded settler wedding in Three Rivers was in November, 1830; Mary McInterfer was married to David Winchell. The first school was in the log cabin of the McInterfer family. At this early date, power dams for mills were being constructed on local rivers. A mill is shown at the right of this section of mural, along with the proud owner and his family. On the river is seen one of the "arcs" or flatboats used to ship logs down to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, where they could be picked up by seagoing vessels for export. Boats were also constructed that transported flour and grain to Chicago; the shippers' family names were prominent in the history of Three Rivers - Prutzman, Moore, and Millard. Moore & Millard's first boat for shipping to Chicago was named "Kitty Kiddungo", which has to be a good answer to a trivia question!

Three Rivers' history mural (2)

The next section of the mural shows the arrival of the first traders, mostly French, and the establishment in the late 1600s of the first Christian mission and church along the banks of the St. Joseph River in what is now Three Rivers. The mission is marked by a river trail marker on the St. Joseph River.

Three Rivers' history mural (1)

The first section of the mural shows a Native American man looking west across the undeveloped river. Although no particular people is represented - the figure is only symbolic - the first French Traders and US settlers found that the Pottawatomi had beaten them to the area by 100 years or more. The Pottawatomi were farmers and traders, driven to the area from their original homeland near Detroit by the Iroquois in disputes over valuable fur hunting areas. Other disputes were recorded from oral histories, including the Great Battle for which there is a marker in the park.

The Pottawatomi are the "fire keepers" of the Anishinabe Three Fires Confederacy. The nearby Pottawatomi town of Nottawasepi, now called Mendon, was as large as many US cities in the west at that time. They were settled farmers and were Christian from the 1600s. Many Pottawatomi tried to hang on to their land through filing lawsuits and other legal and political maneuvers, but most lost their land in the tragic "Indian Removal" period spearheaded by still-controversial president Andrew Jackson. Today, most Pottawatomi live in the west, but a few "bands" (family groups) that refused removal - or escaped and returned - remain. One local group purchased a large tract of land about an hour east of Three Rivers, and remain there. There are many interesting - and bloodcurdling - stories about the collision of the US settler and Pottawatomie cultures, but they are a little hard to find. Local historian Sue Stillman in the 1930s wrote in her history of Three Rivers some of the stories, when it was still fairly close to living memory.

Before the Pottawatomie, other peoples lived here, but the archeology record is sketchy (and much of it was plowed under.) The Miami peoples were known to live here, and before them, peoples of the Mississippian Mound Culture. Along undeveloped stretches of river the "wild rice", a staple grain, that they planted may still be found in large tracts. In more settled areas, the emigrant farmers pulled it out, seeing it as blocking navigation - and not knowing what it was.

GAR and a Cane

The American Civil War (1861–1865) both shattered and formed the United States. After the war, Union veterans formed a group that became the most influential political organization in the US for the next fifty years. It was called "The Grand Army of the Republic" (G.A.R.), and the chapter (or "Post") of this powerful organization in Three Rivers was named after Edward M. Prutzman, who was killed during a battle in Resaca, Georgia, in May of 1864.

His name has appeared again in the local news. As reported in an article this week by Elena Hines of the Three Rivers Commercial-News, a man cleaning an attic in Pennsylvania found an elaborate gold and mahogany walking stick that had been presented to Edward M.'s father, A. C. Prutzman, by "The Citizens of Three Rivers, Michigan, Sept. 23, 1893".

A. C. Prutzman was a promoter of Three Rivers as early as 1838, when he built the giant flatboats called "arks" that were used for shipping on the St. Joseph River. He also owned warehouses along the rivers, and became wealthy through his shipping businesses. A. C. was the city's chief librarian, and also served six terms as state senator. He died in 1899.

Many men from the Three Rivers area died in the Civil War, and the finding of the cane has been a chance for people today to re-learn the stories of the lives of both the father and son. The G.A.R. began declining in influence as its membership aged; and it was officially disbanded in 1956 after the death of its last Civil War veteran member.

The photo shows a gravesite of a G.A.R. member, marked when the organization was still active, with the name "Ed. M. Prutzman Post" clearly marked.

Brownie's Radiator

This cute old building, possibly a 1920s gas station and formerly decorated with a large sign reading "Brownie's Radiator", was located for years at the center of a controversy, as well as on a main road. The owner, Mr. Brownie himself, I presume, kept dilapidated cars parked around the building. Despite the "Brownie's Radiator" sign, I never saw anyone working, and assumed it was more a spot for old cronies to sit, smoke, complain to each other about electronic ignitions, and get away from the wife.

Eventually the junk cars, which he called his collection, precipitated complaints from the neighbors. The City Fathers Frowned. Actions were Taken. "I-can-do-what-I-want-with-my-property" activists Reacted. Neighbors were Enraged. Soon a kerfuffle of epic proportions stormed through the City Halls. But Mr. Brownie sailed serenely on, his prow high above the waters of the squall, his "collection" intact, until his recent sad demise.

The building then became a Mexican market, which promptly went out of business. Someone should check the Feng Shui of that corner.

(Note: I fully expect someone to tell me that "That's Not Right, It Didn't Happen Like That At All." What can I say? I just look, and read the papers...)

A Bit of the Past

Spotted stuck and abandoned in a marsh along the Portage River, this ancient example of horse-drawn farm machinery reminds us of when agriculture extended to well inside the Three Rivers city limits.

The Lighthouse

The first was a theme day so today I am starting the year with Three Rivers' lighthouse, which has been preventing kayak and canoe pileups on the river since... er, no, it really is just ornamental. (It does actually have a light, though.) Placed at the spot where the Rocky River joins the broad St. Joseph River, the lighthouse recalls the days before the railroads when commerce flowed along the rivers. The lighthouse is also the city's de facto symbol, used on city vehicles and by local merchants in their advertising.

On January 1, lots of soft, puffy snow. Today, lots of sunshine, 15 degrees F, -9 degrees C.

Veterans Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day; the Riverside Cemetery in Three Rivers was decorated with flags and markers for the graves of former servicemen. Formerly called "Armistice Day", November 11 is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other countries, and marks the end of World War I. In the US, it became in 1954 a day to honor the veterans of all wars.

This giant boulder in the cemetery was placed there in 1903, "Dedicated To the Perpetual Memory of the Soldiers of All Wars." Surrounding the boulder are four signs, each sign with lines of a poem. Walking clockwise around the boulder, the poem reads:

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout are past.

No rumor of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind:
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind.

No vision of the morrows strife
The warrior's dream alarms.
No braying horn nor screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.

On fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

Hobo Hotel

This old barn by the Portage River was known locally as the "Hobo Hotel", a place where hobos would stay during the great depression of the 1930s, when many unemployed young men wandered about the country.

B/w gives the image a ghostly quality, a remembrance of the history of those old hard times.

See more people's monochrome takes on their world at The Monochrome Weekly.

Fall Color and the Strawberry King

One good drop in the temperature and the sugar maples have started to turn! And we got the promised sunny day.

This is a view up Kellogg Street this morning, to a very gothic-looking old house that sits next to a skating rink. Kellogg was not the corn flakes guy; the street is named after a local grower who was called "The Strawberry King". He hybridized and sold strawberry plants in the early 1900s. His farms covered much of what is now the north end of town, and were the largest in the world at the time. More here: Russel M. Kellogg.

The Great Battle

The marker, erected in 1925, says "Site of Legendary Battle between the Shawnee and Federated Indian Tribes in 1802". The "Federated Indian Tribes" refers to Anishinaabe, People of the Three Fires, in this area primarily the Potawatomi, who were pushed out of the general Detroit area by the Iroquois in the 1600s and 1700s. The story of this battle was remembered through oral tradition and only written down much later. It was a running battle, following the river routes from what is now the center of town up the Portage River banks. Generations of settlers found weapons and remnants of battle as they built homes and farms in the area.

The point of the battle is believed to be an expansion attempt by peoples from the Washbash valley in what is now Indiana into the Potawatomi's farmland and hunting land. Although the story of this particular battle was not recorded by any European or US historian of the time, the story continues to be known locally.

The oral history of this battle was collected and written down by Flavius Josephus Littlejohn, who was not an anthropologist but was himself a popular storyteller, in the late 1800s. His book, "Legends of Michigan and the Old Northwest", was described by historian Sue Stillman as "A white man's attempt at an Indian's style of oratory and story telling." It is assumed that he added his own decorative details to the story of the Three Rivers battle.

Moab

The setting sun lights up another historical marker in the city, for an 1830 "plat" called Moab. There is something oddly ominous about the stone.

"Moab" was laid out in July of 1830 by Christopher Shinnaman; the location is now part of the Third Ward of the city of Three Rivers. By 1834, though, there were still only three houses in Three Rivers. Shinnaman purchased the land from Molly Richert, who had built a home there in 1829.

Another community called St. Joseph (the Second Ward of the city of Three Rivers) was also laid out later in 1830 by George Buck and Jacob McInterfer. Late in life George Buck recounted running a tavern and hotel on what is now Fourth Street and the "three camps of Indians" that lived in Three Rivers. Perhaps what makes the Moab stone seem ominous is the 1830 date -- knowing that the real estate speculators were getting busy while the original Potawatomi residents still lived nearby.

A third community was laid out by John H. Bowman "on the north shore of the St. Joseph River" in 1836 and called Three Rivers. Bowman owned several mills and in 1837 was elected to the Michigan State Legislature. (Information is from "St. Joseph in Homespun" by Sue Stillman.)

The Moab area also seems to have been called "Canada". The three areas became the city of Three Rivers in 1855.

The marker says "MOAB, Pioneer village platted 1836" and that it was erected in Oct. 1925 by the Abiel Fellows Chapter of the DAR.

Heimbach Road

Heimbach Road runs just north of town, named for a farming family that built this home sometime in the 1850s. Long buried in a dense and tangled woods by the side of the road, the house is now visible for the first time in many years as the land is being cleared for a farm equipment dealer. Heimbachs still live in the area, and a very elderly Heimbach pointed out to me a similar house just down the road as having been built by his great-grandfather.

The curved "eyebrow" windows at the top of the house are a very unusual feature.

The Three Rivers Commericial newspaper has an article ("Heimbach home to pass into memory", by Rick Cordes, 18 August 2009) about the house. In the article, nearby residents of a similar house speculate that the land on which the house sits may have been "part of the 1832 land grant that parceled property in Southwest Michigan to early European-ancestry settlers."

The Homestead Act was not passed until 1862; before that there was the Preemption Act of 1841, which encouraged farmers from the eastern United States to move onto government-owned land in the west, including Michigan. The Treaty of St. Joseph in 1827 ceded most Potawatomi land in Michigan to the Federal Government, but reserved several large areas near Three Rivers. Treaties after the Blackhawk War (1832) led to general "removal" of Indians, but local Potawatomi held onto their land until the late 1830s, and a few managed to resist removal entirely. Their descendants still live in southwest Michigan.

As do the descendants of the Heimbach family!

Big Old Cannon

My father used to joke that every town square in the midwest had a cannon in it. He didn't know why, but supposed they were military souvenirs. When we moved here I was surprised to find it was true, lots of cannons! Old ones, new ones. A few years ago the military repossessed some of the newer ones, saying they had been obtained illegally. But this one is legal -- and has been hanging around Three Rivers since 1847! A nice big new two sided historical marker, topped with the city logo, has been recently put up by the cannon in Scidmore Park.

When I stopped to take the picture, an elderly man was encouraging his grandson to climb on the cannon. The old man probably had done the same as a boy.

The marker says--

THREE RIVERS TOWN CANNON
Before the Civil War local militias in Michigan were supplied with arms and equipment donated by the Federal Government under the Militia Act of 1808.

During the Mexican War (1845-47) the army's new artillery system was very successful and well reported in the press. In 1847 the State of Michigan chose to draw an accumulated share of military equipment in cannons. The State in turn loaned each cannon to a town which agreed to train men to use and maintain it.

This cannon was made by Ames Mfg. Co. of Chicopee, Mass and serial numbered 323 by inspector Jas. W. Ripley on August 26, 1847. It was part of a shipment of seventeen 6 pounder guns, with carriages and full equipment sent in late 1847 to Michigan, still a "frontier" state.
(Continued on other side)

State records after the Civil War show a bronze 6 pounder gun on loan to Three Rivers. It was probably used in Michigan for training during the Civil War. Local history indicates it was frequently fired for ceremonial events.

By 1888 the cannon was too obsolete for serious military use. The State ordered it back to Lansing for disposal. Instead, the village was allowed to purchase the bronze gun tube for 12 1/2 cents a pound according to the local newspaper of February 10th.

The cannon continued to be used for local ceremonies and celebrations until retired for safety reasons. It remains a local landmark.

At the bottom it says "marker given in memory of Matt J. and Mary L. Switlik.

A Capsule History of Three Rivers

Historical marker downtown gives a quick historical rundown:

"THREE RIVERS Here the Rocky and Portage rivers join the winding St. Joseph River. Many centuries before the coming of the white man the junction of these water routes made this a favorite camping site for Indians. La Salle came through the region in 1680 on his way east, and in his wake came other Frenchmen who traded with the Indians. Three Rivers, founded in the 1830s, was as far as large boats could come up the St. Joseph. Flatboats and rafts were used to carry goods to and from Lake Michigan."
"Michigan Historical Commission registered site No. 150"

In 1654 a Frenchman, Medard Chouart Des Groseilliers, traveled the whole length of the St. Joseph River. It is known that Miami peoples lived along the St. Joseph River in the 1600s, but were pushed out by Iroquois fur traders. Potawatomi moved into the area in the late 1600s. The confluence of the three major area rivers made it an ideal trading place in the days when travel was done mainly by canoe. More on the Friends of the St. Joseph River Association website.

The flatboat era ran from around 1830 to 1844; the large barges, called arks, carried freight one way. They were dismantled when they reached Lake Michigan. Flatboats were superseded by steamboats, and the railroad came to Three Rivers about 1865.