Aukiki River Festival

06/27/2025

The story of the Kankakee River has many authors: first the Native American, then the fur trapper and pioneer. The railroads brought the rich and famous to the Kankakee; where they erected clubhouses — the heyday of the sportsman era. Other important contributors were the local men that worked the land and acted as guides for the sportsmen. Eleazer "Tad" Starkey was just such a man.

Starkey was born in 1877 to Eleazer and Ellen Hayes Starkey in Kouts, Ind. Tad's grandfather, David Starkey, brought his family to Indiana around 1840 and by 1850 they were well established in Center Township. In 1854 Eleazer moved to Pleasant Township, where by the mid-1870s he is farming a 30 acre parcel located a mile east of Baum's Bridge. After the passing of Eleazer in 1900 and his wife Ellen in 1909, the farm was passed on to Tad. In 1902 Tad married Lulu M. Barber. By 1921 Tad added another 27 acre parcel that fronted on the Kankakee River proper. Tad raised grain and had a small herd of dairy cows. He and Lulu were deeply involved with the Indiana Farm Bureau and experimented with the new farming practices of the day. In 1938 he reported the results of a study he conducted on fertilization of his pasture fields. Tad applied ammonium sulphate to a portion of the fields. Within a week he could see a dramatic improvement and his "cattle showed a strong preference for the fertilized grass."

Tad is one of those individuals closely associated with the story of the Kankakee during the time of transition while the marsh was drained. He spent his entire life on the marsh. He supplemented his farm income by working as a "pusher" for the sportsmen that hunted the marsh. Living close to Baum's Bridge Tad became acquainted with Lew Wallace. In 1965 Tad was interviewed by the Vidette-Messenger and told "that the general would come to the Kankakee area to fish, camp and work on one of his books. On one occasion he was asked to help Wallace locate a site for a camp. He was able to do so, and later helped Wallace pack supplies, and sometimes pushed his boat down the river for Wallace on sight-seeing excursions. He said Wallace wasn't much of a hunter, that didn't care much for hunting, but that he liked to camp out on the banks of the Kankakee do a little fishing and writing."

Tad had a unique perspective on the draining of the marsh; with half of his life spent on the marsh before the draining and half after. He admitted that the draining gave him a lot more land, but "There are a lot more things to life than just farming."

Starkey was one of the last "pushers" of the old Kankakee Marsh before it was drained and channelized. Tad passed away in 1967 at the age of 90, Lulu was to follow in 1970.

Tad Starkey is seated on right.

06/20/2025

The Hall family story is one of the more interesting Kankakee River tales. Edward Hall was born in Ireland in 1812. He immigrated to Canada with his wife, Ann Maxwell, where they lived for two years and then on to Indiana in 1836. They owned property in section 6 in Pleasant Township, Porter County. Major McFadin was a close friend of Edward Hall's and wrote this: "I was acquainted with him for over 20 years, and he was a good, kind man, and had a large family of boys, all hunters and trappers, and they lived like Robinson Crusoe in the wilderness, without any neighbors within 5 or 6 miles of them, and I begrudged them their happy and wild life, and would like to have joined them in their romantic home near the banks of the Kankakee." Edward died in 1881 and Ann in 1914.

James was born to Edward and Ann in 1853. James married Nancy Cannon of Kouts in 1875, they had 8 children. A majority of the following comes from the writings of historian Richard "Dick" C. Schmal as was told to him by Kris Hall, the grandson of James.

James and Nancy Hall lived in San Pierre, Indiana. James was working stacking hay on the Brown Ranch near Shelby, Indiana. He heard that a dredge barge was for sale and purchased it. In 1900 he decided to move his family to Shelby on the barge that he converted to a houseboat. The houseboat was 34 by 14 feet in size. Schmal writes: "There were nine family members who made the trip: James and Nancy, along with daughters Ella, Daisy, Dora and Hazel, and sons Elmer, Millard and John (who was just a baby). Also, several old hound dogs, a flock of chickens and barrels filled with staples such as flour and apples added to the clutter."

The Hall family moved slowly down the Kankakee. "In late November they finally reached the 3-I railroad bridge above Shelby. Here they had to stop for the winter because they were driving pilings for a new bridge... In the late spring of 1901 the new bridge was completed and the old pilings were cut away, leaving room for the barge to pass through." writes Schmal.

The Hall family found a place near Shelby. "The family lived on the floating houseboat for a period of time until it began to leak so badly that it had to be pulled onto the bank, where they lived for several years (at least through 1917), paying five dollars rent annually for the site."

Around 1910 James leaves his family in Shelby and moves to Florida. His obituary dated July 23, 1920 reads: James Hall, known as "Dad", was found dead on Shell Island in his bachelor's quarters Sunday afternoon by Tom Williams. As near as could be ascertained the old fisherman came to his death from natural causes. The only articles found in his pockets were receipts for dues paid the Odd Fellows Lodge. He had been living on Shell Island, acting as fisherman and guide for a number of years, and living the life of a hermit." Nancy died in Shelby in 1945.

The Halls were a large family and many descendants remain in Northwest Indiana to this day. Pictured is the Hall family in front of the barge that brought them to new home in Shelby.

06/13/2025

In a past Facebook posting I told you of Rowley and Bertha Morehouse. My research shows that Rowley Morehouse was arguably one of the highest respected and successful Kankakee River guides of the Kankakee Marsh. Rowley and Bertha’s home was across the Kankakee River from Baum’s Bridge. Their descendants still call Northwest Indiana their home. Their daughter, Mary Thatcher, kept up her family story for all of her life. Mary was interviewed by Laverne Terpstra, Transcribed by Shirley Zeck on November 19, 1992. This work was DeMotte-Kankakee Valley Rotary Club Oral History Project

Mary Morehouse-Thatcher was a Kankakee River fur trapper’s daughter. Mary was born on August 19, 1893 to Rowley and Bertha Lange Morehouse near Wheatfield, Jasper County, Indiana. The Morehouse farm was located across the Kankakee River from Baum’s Bridge. Mary’s story tells the details of being raised on a farm at the turn of the 20th century. This was the first female’s perspective of life in the Kankakee Marsh that I’ve come across. So many little things that we take for granted were labor intensive in the early 1900s. Bath taking is one example that Mary told about: “To take a bath, we took the wash tub behind the stove, (ha, ha) heat some water and crawl in there and take your bath. Then that all had to be dumped out. The next guy come along. My mother always put the boiler on when it come time to take baths. A couple times a week we took a bath. When she took out one to give a bath, she put a little more water in the boiler to keep hot water. Everybody had their baths. It was hard getting along in those days, I tell you.” But, male or female, everyone worked the farm. Mary talks about all aspects of farm life and its duties. Mary passed away on January 30, 1994 not far from where she was born in Jasper County, Indiana along the Kankakee River. Mary lived to see her one-hundredth birthday! Mary is pictured on right front in around 1910

Mary can be seen near the front of the buggy. Go here to read Mary’s life story: http://kankakeevalleyhistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=1405

06/06/2025

A very important figure in Kankakee River history was the fur trapper. From earliest times up until today fur trapping of the Kankakee Marsh has been an active pursuit. Demand and price has fluctuated, but the industry has always existed. This has been a business that both the Native American and white men engaged in. Today trapping is not as popular as in the past because of low demand. In 1883, Major McFadin wrote this about the fur trapper. "The Kankakee still retains its place as one of the best trapping grounds in the State. Every six miles of this river is taken up by trappers who make a fair living catching muskrats, mink and a few otter. A fair average catch per day is 30 rat. Fall rat skins sell at from ten to fourteen cents. Spring rats are much higher in price, usually bringing twenty cents." J. Lorenzo Werich wrote: "during the Civil War a mink hide would sell from $4.00 to $9.00 and a good c**n skin would bring $4.50." With their wealth of knowledge of the marsh the Kankakee trapper often supplemented their income by acting as guides for the sportsmen.

Werich in his "Pioneer Hunter of the Kankakee" wrote at length about the trapper's life on the Kankakee and what brought them to the marsh. "As gold and gems was the magnet that attracted our Hoosier folks to the Far West, so it was the fur trade that brought the early explorers to the Kankakee region." With no established hunting ground many disputes sprung up. Werich writes: "So some of the old pioneer trappers got together and established what is known as a trappers' claim...and were divided by a line running north and south as the river is supposed to flow...and was from 2 to 10 miles in width." McFadin wrote that although prices for rats are low in the fall "trappers are compelled to catch rats in the fall in order to keep others off their ground."

McFadin sums up the character of the Kankakee trapper. "A majority of these trappers are hard working, intelligent, honest men, with homes and families. Occasionally, however, a man is found devoid of all instincts of decency and fair play, a veritable Pariah amongst the flock. Their lives, however, as trappers, usually cease after one season."

Early traps were crude devices constructed out of logs, sticks, twine and rope. They were effective, but inefficient. The introduction of the steel trap was the solution. Werich wrote: "In the fall of 1845 Harrison Hartz Folsom and Rens Brainard" went to Hebron and engaged blacksmith John Alyea "to make them three dozen steel rat-traps at one dollar each, and four two-spring otter traps, or wolf traps as they are sometimes called, at three dollars each. These were the first steel traps made and set in the Kankakee country."

Early trappers of the Kankakee Marsh have a checkered reputation. On the one hand they are often referred to as "River Rats" of low morale character and other times acknowledged for their work ethics, resourcefulness and grit. Probably both descriptions are accurate.

05/30/2025

Surprisingly, I find few accounts of individual Indians of the Kankakee River Valley. Mingo is the exception. Both Werich and Nichols have accounts in their Kankakee River books about Mingo. However, the most detailed information about Mingo comes from Major McFadin as told to him by Killbuck and LaBonta. The following is the best I can I can piece together about Mingo from McFadin's stories.

Killbuck and LaBonta first met Mingo near the "Great Bent of the Missouri River." That would be near today's Kansas City. It would have been soon after the Potawatomi were removed from Indiana to Kansas in the late 1830s. Mingo was "swimming in a small stream when some of the Pawnees suddenly came upon him capturing Mingo." Because of Mingo's youth and striking figure has "placed with the family of a principal chief of the Tetons, a branch of the Pawnees" and gave him a more respected place with his captors.

McFadin wrote: "It is frequently the lot of captives to become servants, and assigned to menial offices constitute to the employment of women. This position was very mortifying to the Indian pride of Mingo, who the Indians had named Doranto. But he was somewhat reconciled to it, as it threw him into the company of a beautiful daughter of the chief whose name was Niargua. It gave him frequent opportunities of walking, talking and laughing with the Teton damsel whose heart it was his good fortune to gain a complete victory."

The relationship between Mingo and Niargua was noticed and her father was informed of the bond. Niargua's father flew into a rage and he threatened to "shoot an arrow through Mingo for is bold pretentions." As in the case of all youth this seemed to only strengthened the two lovers determination. It turned out that another brave was vying for Niargua's attention. This rival was constantly taunting Mingo until he "demanded satisfaction.” They agreed to settle their difficulty by single combat, and the weapons to be used were war clubs and knives." Mingo dispatched his adversary. With this victory Mingo was accepted as an adopted son of the band, but Niargua's father would still not allow Niargua to marry Mingo. The two decided to escape to his Potawatomi camp along the Missouri. After a couple of days of hard riding, Mingo and Niargua reached Killbuck and LaBonta's camp. The two trappers made note they were "much fatigued and wayworn." Killbuck and LaBonta were concerned that this might be a ruse by a war party to gain entrance to their camp, but the condition of Mingo, Niargua and their horses convinced them they were harmless.

Mingo told Killbuck and LaBonta that he was a "remnant of a tribe from the Wabash, Tippecanoe and the Kankakee Rivers" and told them of this land of plenty along the Kankakee. After refreshed, the two lovers made it safely to the Potawatomi encampment on the Missouri River. Soon afterward Killbuck and LaBonta pulled up stakes and made for the Kankakee Marsh where they hunted and trapped for the rest of their lives.

05/16/2025

Another early Kankakee River pioneer was LaBonta. This is another tale where the details are a bit sketchy. With all written about him I have not discovered his first name. McFadin wrote of LaBonta "He was a splendid specimen of a man 6 feet tall and straight as an Indian and about 40 years old and of French extraction. His father was a St. Louis Frenchman, his mother a native of Tennessee." He traveled with "his father to St. Louis every spring and saw the different bands of traders and hunters start upon their annual expeditions to the mountains." This is where he decided to take up the life of a hunter and trapper.

What motivated LaBonta to up and move to the Rockies is another story. LaBonta had a sweetheart in Memphis County named Mary Brand. McFadin recounted this story in the language and trappers’ phrases as told to him by LaBonta. McFadin wrote: "Mary Brand was called the beauty of Memphis County and was tall, straight and slim as a hickory sapling, well formed withal, and neck like a swan...and from their meeting he was a gone beaver…and all he thought of was Mary Brand. Well, LaBonta fell in love with pretty Mary, and she with him." LaBonta was a tall strapping lad of 20 and the best hunter and rifle shot in the county. How could Mary resist that! McFadin continued: "He had only one rival in the person of a little schoolmaster. It was during "a corn husking, where all the young folks meet and have fun. It is a rule at corn husking that boy or damsel who finds a red ear has a right to kiss the one in the party that they like best. The schoolmaster found a red ear, and sitting close to Mary hastily snatched a kiss from her. This aroused La Bonta who grabbed a small whisky keg and hurled it at his rival. Well to make the story short the result was a duel with rifles, distance 100 yards to load and fire until one or the other dropped; LaBonta killed his man." LaBonta was on the run! He was able to avoid the constables, but the pursuit would never end so he decided to leave Memphis. McFadin wrote: "Before starting he sought and obtained a last interview with Mary Brand. He told her: "They are hunting me like a fall buck, and l am bound to quit. Don't think about me any more for I never shall come back. Poor Mary burst into tears and beat her head on the table where she sat. When she again raised it she saw LaBonta his long rifle on his shoulder, striding with rapid steps from the house. Year after year rolled on and he did not return. LaBonta made his way to the Rocky Mountains with a trapper and hunters outfit, where he came across Old Killbuck and...they became firm and fast friends ever afterwards and stood by each other in many Indian fights, until the death of Killbuck separated them."

After many hair-raising adventures in the Rocky Mountains Killbuck and LaBonta decided there was too much danger from Indian attack in the Rockies and removed themselves to the Kankakee Marsh where they hunted and trapped for the rest of their lives.

05/09/2025

I find very few accounts of early Kankakee River pioneers. That is not the case for Killbuck and LaBonta. Major McFadin wrote: "I will now tell you how Old Killbuck and LaBonta, two old hunters and trappers, left the Rocky Mountains nearly fifty years ago, and came to trap and hunt on the Kankakee. Killbuck was a little dried up man, about 65 years of age, tough as a hickory withe; his name was Bill Williams but the hunters had nicknamed him Killbuck, from the fact of him being such a great hunter, and killed so much game." McFadin wrote that he first met them in about 1840.

The tales of Killbuck and LaBonta are sketchy at best. McFadin wrote quite a bit about the two, but some details are lacking. He does not state where Killbuck was originally from or how he and LaBonta came to partner up, but introduces them as having "been hunting and trapping in the mountains for many years with varied success, there being many hostile Indians in their vicinity, particularly the Blackfeet, who were a bloodthirsty tribe and were always after the hunters."

I believe they decided to move on to greener pastures along the Kankakee after one evening when a group of "Indians crept up and fired at them with their bows and arrows, one of which pierced through the fleshy part of the legs of Killbuck and caused him considerable trouble. This arrow had to be taken out with an old bullet mould. Killbuck and his partner raised their guns and fired, killing one Indian and wounding another." That would be enough for me to look for new hunting grounds! McFadin continues: "They had heard of the Kankakee, even in the mountains. The Pottawatomie used to inhabit and hunt there from time immemorial, but were moved west by the government in 1837, and they carried with them reports of this fine hunting grounds, a place sacred to them as it was here reposed the bones of their ancestors, and where they had trapped and hunted until moved away to a country they knew nothing about."

The two "arrived on the banks of the Kankakee near where the old hollow tree stands, at Horseshoe Bend, about three miles from Baum's Bridge." They found the Kankakee to be "a wild and desolate waste of timber, prairie and groves, with no end of swamps and tall grass, all filled with game. At that time there were no settlers there. There were a few Indians and one or two trappers and fur buyers. They went to work at once to build them a comfortable cabin or wigwam for the winter."

The first winters after their arrival was some of the harshest of the century with temperatures of 10 - 30 below zero reported. McFadin wrote: "The rivers and swamps froze solid and for three or four months it was almost too cold to hunt, trap or get any kind of game. A great many hunters froze or starved to death, as well as most all the game and fish." The two anticipated a bad winter and were prepared with food and a tight cabin.

It was written that Killbuck died in 1857 and is buried near where Dunn's Bridge is now located.

05/02/2025

04/04/2025

With only four days until our “Whatever Happened to the Kankakee Marsh” program, we find we're at near capacity for seating. I ask you to reserve your seat as soon as possible.

Join us to hear the horrifyingly true story of how our Northwest Indiana “Everglades of the North” was reduced to the Marble-Powers Ditch, aka the Kankakee River.

Where: Open Door Fellowship Church hall (636 S Baums Bridge Rd, Kouts, IN 46347)
When: April 8, 2025 6:30 pm
Cost: Free, donations appreciated.

Because of capacity restraints, it is important to submit a seating reservation as early as possible: https://kankakeevalleyhistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=3489

In a 1936 report Valparaiso University professor Alfred H Meyer described Baum’s Bridge as “the most historic spot along the Kankakee in the marsh proper.” Through my studies I have researched many landowners, particularly those that owned the parcel where the Collier Lodge would be built. William P. Betterton was one of the more significant landowners.

William Pitchard Betterton was born in 1858 in New Albany, Ind to Charles and Christina Oatman Betterton — the youngest of six children. In 1871 the Betterton family moved to a farm a mile west of Kouts. In 1888 Charles bought the future Collier Lodge property from Elizabeth Ryder.

William married Marguerite Lauer in 1880; in1886 William and Marguerite moved to the 156 acre farm adjacent to the lodge parcel. Soon after Charles’s death in 1891 William became the owner of the Betterton family “river farm” property. In 1935 William was interviewed by A J Bowser of the Vidette – Messenger. Much of this column comes from the resulting “Siftings” article.

Betterton told Bowser that he “spent thirteen years on the river farm, and like most of the other inhabitants of the river country, I did my share of hunting and fishing. General Lew Wallace had a houseboat on the river and for some time made his headquarters near Baum's Bridge. With his son Henry, the general came every spring and fall to hunt and fish, and write and rest.” Betterton became friends with Wallace and remembered him as: “a tall, well-built man, with an iron gray moustache and goatee, a military bearing stamped indelibly upon him, a very genial man who would set at ease anyone who came in his presence, regardless of his station in life. He was especially gracious to the local folks.” Betterton overheard Wallace say that the Kankakee “was the most beautiful river in the United States before it was destroyed by the hand of man.”

Betterton was in mid-life when the Kankakee Marsh was drained and channelized. He said: “The digging of the big ditch, spelled the doom of this hunter's paradise, and with its completion came the end of the famous hunting camps of this region.”

The previous owner of Betterton’s river farm owned and operated a sawmill on the property. Like most farmers of the area Betterton was a man of many talents. He operated the sawmill at Baum’s bridge until he exhausted the nearby timber; he then operated a portable mill moving it when a new timber supply became available.

Betterton sold his river farm before the river was channelized. He moved to Kouts where he opened a general store. During this time he also owned and operated a steam threshing machine. The threshing machine was so huge that it required a 35-man crew to operate it. Betterton stayed in the threshing business for 50 years until an injury ended the venture.

William Betterton was an ambitious and hardworking man. With all of his enterprises and obligations he even held the office of Pleasant Township trustee from 1914 to 1918. William passed away in 1938 at the age of 79. Marguerite was to follow in 1941. They are buried in the Kouts Graceland Cemetery.