First Land Owners Of Eaton County Michigan

Author : Dennis Swan
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780997738018
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (38 download)

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Download or read book Walk Tall in the Wind written by Dennis Swan and published by . This book was released on 2016-07-25 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author has put to pen the vibrant tales told by his ancestors about the early settlement of Eaton Rapids, Michigan. He has woven these stories together with historical fact, to bring to life the adventures of the Chatfields, some of the first men and women who braved the hardships of the Michigan Territory in the 1830s. Alone in the Michigan wilderness with only the Pottawatomie Indians for neighbors, Olive and Simon Chatfield, educated Quakers from New York state, start a 2 room log cabin and trading post on the banks of the Grand River, a place the Natives call the Forks. With Simon and the older boys gone, Olive goes into early labor for her ninth child. When her two younger boys bring Cloud, the Pottawatomie medicine woman, to help, a life-long friendship is forged. As the settlers move in, and civilization takes hold, the Natives try to adopt the ways of the white man by learning their language, farming and attending their schools and churches. Gray Dove, Cloud Woman's schooled granddaughter, who has lost her remaining family to smallpox, teaches the children at the Chatfield's trading post. The new settlement is growing fast, with roads and building lots being laid out and new stores and warehouses going up. To accommodate the settlement's growth, the Chatfields soon plan to build a tavern with a public dining room, rooms to rent out, and a stable. Even in the midst of prosperity, dark clouds hang over both Simon and his son, Glyn, as each fights their personal devils. Simon is haunted by the atrocity he witnessed in the War of 1812. And, the ghost of Chief Tecumseh is never far from his dreams. Glyn blames himself for his wife's death, finding solace in gambling and drinking whiskey with the Natives. Simon has Olive as a stabilizing influence, however, Glyn's life twists and turns through pain and sorrow before finding true love with Gray Dove, the Indian maiden he once had a chance encounter within the middle of a moonlit stream years before. As more and more settlers move into Eaton County, they take the Native's pristine virgin forests for farms and building businesses. When war, disease, and alcoholism begin to decimate the Native population, the Chatfields continue to remain steadfast friends and speak out against the Indian Removal Act. As everyone around them turns hostile towards the natives, Glyn and Gray Dove struggle desperately to find a way to stay together.