“What are you fixing for breakfast,” a passer by asked as Jenny Slover spread sugar on rolled-out dough. Slover kept a .54-caliber Jaeger rifle close at hand in her outdoor kitchen. Backcountry settlement, south of Laughery Creek, a year or so before the creation of the Indiana Territory…
“Here it is,” Brian Spieldenner, an itinerant artist and journalist, said. “June 23, 1754 (Sat)…”I kept my promise to Capt. Jack not to make another entry in this journal until we were well away from him and his troupe of volunteers…” Great Black Swamp, southwest of Lake Erie, three days from the settlement…
Deep snow and snowshoes kept the woodsman out of the tight-growing saplings. The post hunter skirted the dense thicket. He wove in and out where he could in hopes of jumping a cottontail rabbit sitting close to the edge. Daguerreotype image. Old Northwest Territory, in the Year of our Lord, 1792
The post hunter’s still-hunt paused near an old shelter site. He settled in next to a wild cherry tree and surveyed the flat-topped knoll. After a brief pause, the wing-bone call touched impatient lips. Two soft clucks wandered through the cedar grove… Old Northwest Territory, a quarter mile east of the River Raisin, in the Year of our Lord, 1792.
In the midst of an October still-hunt for wild turkeys, Red Fox paused with his back against a tall oak tree. That afternoon was warm. The smell of drying leaves fragranced the glade. A wild turkey had just clucked out in the tangled trees of the river bottom. Ten minutes later he dragged two soft clucks through a single wing-bone. All that remained was to wait for a response. Old Northwest Territory, overlooking the River Raisin, in the Year of our Lord, 1794…
Shadows grew long as the day came to a close. Msko-waagosh sat wrapped in a red wool trade blanket as he watched a trail leading from the bottom lands. The air was cool, but pleasant for late-November. It was little wonder folks associated the red blanket with this seasoned woodsman. Old Northwest Territory, overlooking the River Raisin, in the Year of our Lord, 1796…
A Southeastern woodsman known only as “Lizard” ventured from the blockhouse on a bright June morn. “I’m heading up the valley,” Lizard said to no one in particular…
Saturday, 31 December, 1763: A plain sunset adds a poignant reminder of the difficulties of time-traveling to a bygone era as another year comes to an end. Yet, this glorious sunset only marks the passage of one day. Tomorrow is a new creation, a fresh opportunity to explore the life and times of Mi-ki-naak, the Snapping Turtle… Happy New Year, everyone! Be safe and may God bless you all!
