(pg. 26-28)
The treaty of September 29, 1817 involved quite extensive land cessions in Ohio but we find that the Potawatomi, together with the Ottawa and Chippewa, at this time ceded but a small section of land whose boundaries are given as follows:
"Beginning where the western line of the State of Ohio crosses the river Miami of Lake Erie, which is about 21 miles above the mouth of the Great Auglaize river; thence down the middle of said Miami river to a point north of the mouth of the Great Auglaize river; Thence with the western line of the land ceded to the U.S. by the treaty of Detroit, in 1807, N. 45 miles; then W. so far that a line S. will strike the place of be- ginning' thence S. to the place of beginning" (Royce, 1899, p. 684).
This particular area has little in the way of permanent villages or settlements reported. W.C. Mills in his Archaeological Atlas of Ohio has one plate on page ix which shows the Indian villages of Ohio. In Defiance County, on the north side of the Maumee River his map shows "Little Turtle" village. However, the evidence for this placement is not given and elsewhere the village of Little Turtle, the Miami chief, is given as being on the Eel River northwest of Fort Wayne. At about the mouth of Tiffin River, the same map locates the "Blue Jacket's Town," presumably that of the Shawnee leader. This particular tract, however, was ceded as one of the minor areas in the treaty of Greenville in 1795. It is of interest solely in indicating the presence of Shawnee in this particular area. Whether or not the village of Little Turtle is to be placed in this area, it is likely that the Miami were present at an early period but were subsequently dislocated by later intruders. These latter would definitely include the Ottawa who were certainly well established on the lower reaches of the Maumee River as well as in the area to the south.
The only village which has been noted in the Michigan portion of this particular land cession is to be seen on the map showing the distribution of Indian villages in The Archaeological Atlas of Michigan compiled by W.B. Hinsdale. He notes "Bawbee's" village in the northern part of the southern half of Hillsdale County and identifies the village as of Potawatomi affiliation.
The greater portion of the region was doubtless used for hunting and trapping by the tribes living in villages adjacent to it. It seems probable that the Potawatomi may well have used a portion of the tract to the north in Michigan since by traveling up the Raisin river well into its headwaters it would have been reached and utilized with even greater facility by the Potawatomi bands located on the headwaters of the St. Joseph River.
There is possibly a Potawatomi (?) village on the St. Joseph River in Williams County, Ohio. See map of John Tipton, dated 1824, and published in Indian Villages of the Illinois Country as Plate XLIX.