William Dean’s biography, Kalamo Township, Eaton County, Michigan Copyright © 1999 by Jan Sedore. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ A HISTORY OF KALAMO TOWNSHIP KALAMO TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY-1989 Page 4 WILLIAM DEAN Nyle Dean, a descendant of the family, recalls that when the Deans settled in the township in 1837 their only neighbors were Indians, who were generally very helpful. "My grandmother brought venison from one named Nemar, but one day she went to buy some maple sugar from them but the children were playing in the holding tank of sap, so she changed her mind. "One noon when Nyle's grandparents, the William Deans, were eating, an Indian, who had been drinking came and demanded food. When he didn't get it immediately he began swearing and chasing Will around the cabin with a knife. "Grandfather got his rifle and hit the Indian on the side of the head, knocking him out temporarily. The next day three or four Indians came to Will in the woods to even the score. Knowing the Indians loved bravery, Will picked up his axe and chased them through the woods." The Indians could not pronounce the name "Will" so they called him "Big Weel." Nyle Dean said his grandfather had no luck hunting deer, so one day a young Indian brave offered to help him. The brave started running through the woods. It soon became apparent it was an endurance test. Will ran until the Indian decided to turn back, then Will led the way. He jumped over a stream, but the Indian landed in the middle of it. The Indians and their squaws did not let him forget that for a while, remembered Mr. Dean. The whites and the Indians lived peacefully until speculators wanted the land. In 1840 the Indians were herded into a concentration camp at Marshall, and from there they were shipped west of the Mississippi River.