The Hour Glass

Despite the ravages from wolves, hunters, and hounds, the deer remained long after the sparse settlements along the Calumet river had become villages and towns. In spring and summer they would run singly, or in small groups; in winter as many as a hundred would run in a single herd. Mrs. John Nelson, whose father-in-law conducted a tavern at Oak Hill, remembers the time when she could look through the windows and see spotted fawn feeding in a nearby marsh. Mr. Henry Barton, of Merrillville, while driving to Lake Station, now East Gary, saw a herd of about a dozen deer led by a young buck which had about its neck a carefully tied ribbon. Darus Blake, of Garyton, John Brown, of Crown Point, and others assert that deer were as plentiful in the 50's as cattle are now, and that venison was as essential to the diet of the early settlers as beef is to ours.

Of all the hunters of this region, Mr. Christopher Kimball, of Michigan City, was perhaps the most successful. Hunting along the shore of Lake Michigan, from the site of Gary to Grand Beach, he killed scores of deer. The truth of his story, which follows, is vouched for by John Monahan and other pioneers:

"In 1857, my brother and I had a great hunt near Michigan City. There had been a heavy snow, followed by a thaw. Then came a gale which heaved the water of the lake against the sand hills and wore the sides almost straight as high as ten feet above the level of the beach. A couple of days of cold weather put a gloss of ice on everything, so that we were unable to walk without ice creepers.

"We started from Michigan City at seven o'clock, and before we got three miles out, saw twenty deer cross the road. We turned loose our fourteen dogs, which immediately scattered through the woods. We followed several of them to the lake. I had hardly reached the beach when a deer, followed by one of the dogs, came bounding to the top of a hummock. I knelt and shot this deer, and just as I raised up I saw four more; some in the water and some on the beach.

"They were trying to get over the hill, but would slip back and roll down. I called Johnnie, my fastest dog. He did not try to climb the hill, but stood at the base and when a deer rolled down, would grab it. Then there would be a real fight. You have no idea how strong a deer is.

"My brother and I each killed one deer, and Johnnie killed five, that day."

The Hour Glass Newsletter George Svihla, Editor Historical Society Officers Naomi Svihla, President Donald Kurtz, Vice President & Treasurer Jane Sutton, Secretary George Svihla, Curator Peter Youngman, Historian Board of Directors Margaret Benninger Evelyn Childs Susan Clouser Constance Richter Norbert Scheff John Skafish George Svihla Thomas Tittle Peter Youngman

Historical Society of Ogden Dunes, Indiana, Inc.
115 Hillcrest Road - 101
Ogden Dunes, IN 46368-1001

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Web-published 13th September, 1999. Updated & reposted 24th October, 2000.