Aukiki River Festival

11/21/2025

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween! Believe in Ghosts? I post this story every year around Halloween. Like to read a good ghost story? Well, gather around and I’ll tell you a whopper of a Baum’s Bridge ghost story!

You know by now that I have a special interest in stories about the old Kankakee River, especially the Baum’s Bridge area in south Porter County, Indiana. I found this linked story with my historic newspaper collection subscription from the Valparaiso Vidette Messenger.

William Ormond Wallace had a column in the Valparaiso Vidette Messages titled “The Stroller.” Wallace wrote over 700 Stroller articles until his retirement in 1962.

Although Wallace was known to embellish his stories a bit, I believe this story to be sound. The people mentioned in the piece are well-known Baums’ Bridge residents and handwritten notes on the original copy reference additional locals I’ve read about.

Mayville was located near the intersection of 1050 S. and Baum’s Bridge Road. The John Morrison farm was another half-mile north of the intersection. Although, I’ve never been able to find the location of the Simpson home, that is not unusual for the area. All the other landmarks read true. I consider myself a sort-of agnostic when it comes to ghosts, but I do believe this story is rooted on true facts. Enjoy!

Go here to read the full A Weird Night is spent in River Shack: http://kankakeevalleyhistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=1924

10/24/2025

Many types of men with various backgrounds and aspirations were drawn to the Kankakee Marsh. Some were honest and upright and some were a wee bit unsavory. J. (James) Wesley Johnson was of the later group.

Johnson was born in 1886 to James F. and Emerillas (Merriman) Johnson in Columba City, Indiana. Tom Johnson is the grandson of J. Wesley and has done extensive research into his grandfather's life. His study provides the majority of the information that follows. Tom describes his Grandfather as a "troublesome man." He seems to jump from one nasty situation to another. In the spring of 1916 Emerillas purchased the Donley Resort at Baum's Bridge, and soon moved his family to Porter County. Emerillas was very ill at the time of the purchase. J. Wesley being the unscrupulous man that he was worked to have his dying mother sign over the property to him. This pursuit crated a dispute between J. Wesley and his father.

Hold on to your hat, this is an amazing and somewhat confusing story. A few days before J. Wesley's mother's death J. Wesley tried to secure his mother's signature on a check for $170. His cousin, Floyd Albright, was present and interfered with the plan. J. Wesley tried to shoot Albright in reprisal. This resulted in J. Wesley and his wife to be thrown in the Porter County jail for assault and battery with intent to kill. J. Wesley was later released on bail. Porter County Constable M. S. Campbell was taking J. Wesley home to Baum's Bridge when 3 shots were fired at them. The shooter escaped and the constable returned J. Wesley to Valparaiso for his safety. The shooter was allegedly J. Wesley's father. It was believed that somebody informed his father of his son's return home and his father lay in wait for his arrival. A warrant for Johnson's arrest was made for murderous assault with a deadly weapon. Mr. Johnson claimed that he acted in self defense. He maintained that while locking up the tavern a man approached him in the dark. He ordered the man to stop, but he continued to advance at which time Johnson fired his revolver at him. I assume the charges were dropped.

J. Wesley and his father reconciled their differences and peace seemed to have returned to Baum's Bridge. But, that was not to last! Within a month J. Wesley was found guilty of dynamiting fish and sentenced to 6 months at a state penal farm. Less than a month later J. Wesley escaped the penal farm and was reported to be heavily armed and hiding out along the Kankakee between Baum's and Kahler's Bridge.
After his capture I believe that J. Wesley was given a choice of serious jail time or enlist in the army. He chose the army. After his service he moved to Kansas City and was killed in a car accident in 1938, soon after his fifth marriage.

J. Wesley Johnson led a life that was in perpetual turmoil. Unpleasant that it be, I find stories like J. Wesley's fascinating! Another example of the diversity of people that make the history of the Kankakee so interesting.

J. Wesley Johnson is pictured on the left.

10/10/2025

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.

Betterton is pictured in the center of the group image.

09/19/2025

https://www.facebook.com/KankakeeValleyHistory/posts/pfbid0n5a

The Kankakee Valley Historic Society seeks to bring together persons having an interest in the past and future of the Kankakee Valley Area.

09/05/2025

In a previous Facebook posting I wrote about William Eaton, who ran the ferry located at present day Baum’s Bridge. J Lorenzo Werich wrote in his “Pioneer Hunters of the Kankakee” about Eaton’s Ferry in the chapter titled “Running the Ferry.” Other than a few errors, most of the material is close to fact. The main discrepancy I found is that Werich misidentified the operator of the ferry as George Eaton. We need remember that Werich was born over 20 years after Eaton operated the ferry and it was necessary to use word of mouth information handed down to him.

William married Susannah Ault in 1836 in Portersville, present day Valparaiso. Susannah passed in 1837. William remarried that same year to Julia Hulbert. Not much is known about Julia other than she was born in Ohio in 1820. Their union produced five children. William acquired the ferry license at present day Baum’s Bridge in October, 1839 from the Porter County Commissioners. In November, 1839 William posted this in the Logansport Herold:

“The undersigned takes this method of informing the public that he has established himself of the point where the road from Monticello to Michigan City crosses the Kankakee River, known as Sherwood's Ferry, for the purpose of keeping said ferry for the convenience of travelers passing that way. He will always be found ready to accommodate. WILLIAM EATON November 14, 1839”

In 1848 William acquired the contract to carry the mail across the Kankakee Marsh. The following year William built the first bridge at Baum’s Bridge. His bridge was soon burnt down by Jasper County citizens, irate over the toll Eaton charged. William passed away in 1850.

With a house full of children to raise, Julia took over the running of the ferry. This must have been a daunting task, but with hungry mouths to feed she needed a means to house and feed her family. Werich wrote of Julia: “Mrs. Eaton, a woman of remarkable nerve and strength, continued to run the ferry and deliver the mail on the south side.”

Werich told the story of when one morning two men on horseback arrived at the ferry needing to cross the marsh. They claimed to be in a hurry to attend a land sale at Rensselaer. Recent rains had turned the slow moving river into a torrent. Julia told them she could ferry each one separately, but they would not make the sale. Or, they could wade their horses in the shallower points and climb into the ferry at deep spots. They were anxious to cross, so they chose to wade their horses. The following day the LaPorte County Sheriff arrived at the ferry crossing looking for two horse thieves. The description fit the men to a tee of the two men she ferried the previous day. Many stolen horses were hidden away in the Kankakee Swamps. Julia passed away in 1855 and was buried next to William at the ferry cemetery.

During the archaeological digs at our Collier Lodge site at Baum’s Bridge, led by Dr. Mark Schurr of the University of Notre Dame, the Eaton cabin was discovered. Amongst the remains of the cabin were one-cent pieces dated from 1838 to 1851. This must have been coins lost from the ferry fees charged to cross the marsh. Also unearthed were common household and personal items from the ferry era.

08/22/2025

In “Pioneer Hunters of the Kankakee” J. Lorenzo Werich dedicated one chapter to “Draining of the Swamp.” To Werich the Kankakee Marsh was a paradise that man destroyed for the sake of short term gains. Born in 1862 Werich was able to tell the story of the pioneer hunters and trappers of the Kankakee and also lived long enough to witness its destruction through channelization. What was once known as the Everglades of the North was reduced to a 97 mile drainage ditch.

Werich wrote that in his youth, for the uninformed, “any mention of the Kankakee Swamps called up visions of a region of limitless extent of swamps and marshes, uninhabited and desolate, a country always associated with tales of suffering and death.” Today we know that a marsh is an engine for water purification and the habitat for a wide range of wildlife in such great numbers that it was the natural home for Native Americans soon after the last glacier retreated. Later it would attract the trapper and hunter for its seemingly endless bounty. The pioneer farmer would follow establishing homesteads and settlements throughout the marsh high grounds. Then came the greedy land speculators and corrupt government officials that only saw the Kankakee Marsh as a worthless land ripe for ravage.

Werich wrote: “all great movements have their beginning. So it was with the drainage of the Kankakee Swamps.” In the 1850 the U. S. Congress passed the Swamp Land Act that ceded swamplands to the states they rest in. In 1853 Indiana made its first attempt to drain Beaver Lake, which at that time was the largest lake in Indiana. By 1880 it was gone. The state plan was that land sold after “reclamation” was to be sold and the proceeds to be used for infrastructure. Very little money ever made it back to Indianapolis.

For Werich the draining of the Kankakee marsh was more than the loss of one of America’s greatest natural resources. It was the loss of an entire way of life for all that preceded him. It also necessitated removal of the Native American from the Kankakee Valley. Indiana would never be able to drain the swamp as long as the Native Americans held claim to any land within the marsh proper.

In 1881 Werich journeyed to the reservation where the Pottawatomie were resettled in Kansas “that I might be able to learn more of the early history of their hunting grounds on the Kankakee River.”

After a lengthy visit Werich returned home, forever changed by his visit.
What Werich learned transformed his views and created a special kinship for him with the Native Americans and their way of life.

He later wrote: “As I was about to leave one of the old warriors rose to his feet, saying in a low, sad tone: “Oh gone are the days of my youth and memories of my people and the beauties of our beautiful land are forever buried. My Father and myself are forgotten, and the Land of Liberty shall know us no more. When I visit the scenes of my boyhood where 1 played with the pebbles and sand, where years before played the little papoose with his canoe and paddle, and when I recall some of my early adventures of hunting and fishing, the most pleasant recollections of all was my boyhood days at my island home on the Kankakee.”