Marshall County, IN
Historic Highway Signs

9-17-07: Material courtesy www.am1050.com/pg/single.php?newsid=7672

Friday afternoon descendants of those who walked the Potawatomi Trail of Death in 1838 joined with Mike Woolfington head of the Marshall County Tourism office, Kate Finney from the Marshall County Historical Society and others to dedicate nine trail markers in Marshall County.

The dedication ceremony took place at the foot of the Chief Menominee statue at 4 p.m. Mike Woolfington welcomed everyone and said, “We must preserve the history of those who walked the dreaded trail in 1838.”

Kate Finney from the Marshall County Museum said, “These markers will bring history alive, and help to continue to promote the importance of the Native American communities, relationships, and leaders that were in our county.”

Shirley Willard from the Fulton County Historical Society was instrumental in the initiative to place markers along the 660 miles through 26 counties in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. She gave a brief history...“Chief Menominee had refused to sign the treaties giving up the land. His village of 4 wigwams grew to over 100 as other Indians joined the resistance. On September 5, 1838 the Potawatomi were rounded up at gun point and marched to Kansas on the Trail of Death.”

Dr. George Godfrey from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Mr. Smokey McKinney from the Prairie Band of Potawatomi blessed each of the signs along the trail in Marshall County.

The signs that mark the Trail of Death from Chief Menominee statue to the Marshall - Fulton county line.

Mike Woolfington, director of Marshall County Tourism, Plymouth, Indiana. Behind him is the Chief Menominee statue.

George Godfrey, in ribbon shirt, offers tobacco to the Four Sacred Directions with the Potawatomi Trail of Death highway sign behind him. This is the first sign, located by the Chief Menominee statue. Others are placed at each turn so that travelers can follow the Trail of Death.

Smokey McKinney, George Godfrey, and Mike Woolfington stand by a new Potawatomi Trail of Death Regional Historic Trail sign in Marshall County north of Menominee statue on Peach Road. Smokey is Prairie Band Potawatomi, George is Citizen Band Potawatomi, and Mike is the Marshall County Tourism Director, Plymouth, Indiana. (Photo by Dolores Grizzell, Winamac.)
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This page updated Oct 12, 2015.