The Sashabaw Project archives
Editor’s note: This is the original blog I created on the subject for a family website. The more I dug into the project, the more uncomfortable I became with my version of the story and with the conventional wisdom upon which it was based. I decided to save it to show my thought process and how it has evolved.
The Legend of Chief Sashabaw Posted April 10, 2008
It all started with a box of bones in my grandparents’ garage. It has evolved into an incredible story with great historical significance.
As many of you know, there’s an historical marker near the corner of the Dixie Highway and Omira Drive, saying that somewhere in that general area lie the remains of Chief Sashabaw. We all thought that “somewhere” might in fact be the box in Grandpa’s garage.
I thought it would be fun to pursue the legend, but I also thought I would end up telling you it was all just a myth. I can tell you that pursuing it has been fun, but I can’t tell you it’s a myth. In fact, I can say it’s probably all true, and that all our family legends were nowhere near as interesting as the truth.
The truth, it appears, is that our humble grandparents’ home is one of the more significant historical places in Michigan. The truth, it appears, is that some of the most important figures of the early 19th Century visited the property. The truth, it appears, is that the bluff on Silver Lake is not just where we all played as children; it’s also where the first children of white settlers in the state of Michigan outside of Detroit played.
When we stood on those steps down to the lake that Grandpa kept so well coated with creosote, when we stood there right over the little pumphouse halfway up the hill, we were looking out over the same lake that Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about in his “Democracy in America,” one of the greatest books of American history.
Here’s the best part: We aren’t the only ones who didn’t know we were on hallowed ground. Researchers have been trying to pinpoint the exact site of all this for many years.
There’s more, but I’m still working on that.
I’ll keep you posted.
p.s. The picture is taken on the spot that might well have been the burial site of one of the greatest Native American figures in Michigan history. That’s me, third from the left, looking pretty dapper.
Is it a myth after all? Posted April 17, 2008
One professor at the University of Michigan suggested Sashabaw is actually Sassaba, an Ojibwe war chief. An Ojibwe historian confirmed that this is a possibility, though no one knows for sure.
Why does this matter? Because Sassaba fought with Tecumseh in the War of 1812, but despised Americans and identified with the British. He never would have befriended Oliver Williams.
Not only that, but his death by drowning, in Lake Superior, is well-documented and his burial place is known.
So, if this turns out to be the case, the legend of Sashabaw and Williams would be a myth that has found its way into the history books.
Here’s another description of Sassaba, from Henry Schoolcraft:
Sassaba appeared to me to be a man of strong feelings and an independent mind, not regarding consequences.
He had taken a deep prejudice against the Americans, from his brother having been shot by his side in the battle under Tecumseh on the Thames.
This appeared to be the burden of his complaints. He was fond of European dress, and articles of furniture.
That certainly doesn’t match any description of Sashabaw, but then there isn’t that much to be found about him.
I’m still skeptical, but it makes this even more intriguing.
The Legend of Oliver Williams Posted April 12, 2008
Here’s some more of the story of how Chief Sashabaw came to be buried at our grandparents’ house. It’s a part of the story I had never heard before.
This part of the legend starts with the War of 1812. Specifically with the capture of Detroit by the British. Apparently the fall of Detroit was not a big surprise, because the fledgling American Army had trouble getting anyone to fight for the city.
An exception was a dashing young Army major by the name of Oliver Williams, who fought valiantly and ended up in a British prison.
When the war was over, both sides claimed victory, but we ended up with Detroit. The Federal government was so grateful to the soldiers who were willing to fight that it set aside a huge tract of land north of Detroit to reward veterans for their service.
Few of the veterans took their gifts, however. The land was rocky, the weather was cold, the snakes were plentiful, and settlers were afraid of the Indians who inhabited the land.
An exception, again, was the dashing young Oliver Williams. He claimed the land around what is now Silver Lake as his homestead. On the site, he built the first permanent structure in what is now Oakland County.
He also discovered that the Indians weren’t so bad afterall. In fact, history tells us, Oliver and the most-powerful of all the Indians, Chief Sashabaw, became best friends, and eventually considered themselves to be brothers.
When Sashabaw fell gravely ill in 1834, Oliver Williams tried to nurse his friend back to health, but failed. So he lovingly buried him in a place of great honor.
A place at the top of the bluff overlooking Silver Lake. A place we all grew up loving, without ever knowing its place in history.
Stay tuned for more.
Sketchy history Posted April 14, 2008
We know Sashabaw was revered in his day, and anyone who drives through Oakland County knows his name, if for nothing else than mentions on the traffic reports about the road that bears his name.
But finding out exactly who he was has not been easy. I’ve read or been told, for example, that he was Potawatomi, Chippewa, Ottawa, or that he was a member of a people known simply as the Sashabaws, who disbanded and were absorbed into some or all of those other tribes.
The First Christmas Posted April 11, 2008
I guess what bothers me is that there are plenty of people interested in the fact that our grandparents’ property probably was the site of the first Christmas celebration in the area, but no one seems to care that it also was the scene of dozens, maybe hundreds, of other important rituals long before Oliver Williams came along.
First Europeans, then snakes, then Native Americans Posted April 11, 2008
Here’s another oddity. I’ve read almost as much about the Blue Racer snakes that Oliver Williams caught on Grandpa’s property and sent to museums as I have about Sashabaw.