SOLON ROBINSON, 1850 447 



that I was for many years the agent of Messrs W. G. & 

 G. W. Ewing/ having a general superintendance of their 

 lands, to prevent trespass & pay taxes &c. 



I am well acquainted with the character & quality of 

 all their lands known as Indian reserves in that county, 

 none of which are above medium & some below that 

 grade. The section that was located for 0-Kee-chee, a 

 Pottowattamie squaw, which I believe is numbered Sec. 

 4 in Township 37. N. of Range 7 W. is absolutely worth- 

 less, being composed of those barren hills of sand that 

 encircle Lake Michigan, and intervening valleys of swamp 

 or pond, skirted with a few scrubby pines & a few scat- 

 tering stunted black oaks. 



In the early settlement of the county, through some 

 misapprehension of the value of this land, or through a 

 prejudice of the assessing officers against Indian lands, 

 a very heavy tax was assessed upon this section & before 

 it became fully confirmed to Messrs Ewings, it had accu- 

 mulated by the law of forfeiture or penalty to a large 

 sum, not now remembered, though their vouchers will 

 show the amount, which I advised them was more than 

 the land was worth, and that they had better give it up, 

 but they replied they were unwilling to have it appear 

 upon the record that they were defaulters for taxes, & 

 instructed me to pay the amount, which with subsequent 

 taxes by them paid far exceeds the value of said section — 

 in fact it has no value & could not be sold for a dime an 

 acre to any one who knew its quality. I am confident 

 the present owners never would have bought it of the 

 squaw if they had been informed of its character & value. 

 I believe they depended entirely upon the expectation of 



' William Griffith and George Washing:ton Ewing, sons of Alex- 

 ander Ewing, who came to Fort Wayne in 1822; began business as 

 a firm in 1827; developed enterprises through associated firms in 

 Fort Wayne, Peru, Logansport, and La Gro; expended stupendous 

 energy in the fur trade, Indian trade, land speculation, politics, 

 and grain shipping on the Wabash and Erie Canal. See "The 

 Ewings — W, G. and G. W. Ewing," in Brice, Wallace A., History 

 of Fort Wayne . . ., 23-28 (Fort Wayne, 1868); Ewing Papers, 

 Indiana State Library. 



