Heart symbol on carved stone?

[Red_desert]

I don't really live in an area to find carved treasure rocks. But mdog just asked me if the Sac trail is near me. Don't have info on the Sac trail, couldn't find much searching on the Internet. I do have a carved stone, found in the flower bed in front of house. The location is near the spot on the Elkhart river, which once was called the Miami river when owned by the Miami tribe. It runs runs to city of Elkhart to flow around a land shape, into the St Joeseph river. Indians said the shape of the land island looked like the heart of an elk, from which the town got it's name.

Question, is the carving a heart with the start of antlers on top or does it represent something else? Other markings are on the stone with a weathered surface, so some hard to recognize. The ground is frozen, rock is still outside, have just these 2 photos. A fresh plow mark runs across the bottom tip of heart shape. There is another similar shape on the other side, but this one is better angle of view.

I found what looks like a capital T, with a head on top. This is an extreme close up, so was very small. You tilt it forward and top of the deeply cut T seems to become an arrow.

There is like a crow foot left of heart, it is next to to more markings, some really weathered almost ruinic looking but hard to really tell sometimes because of farmer plow scars too.

 

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[mdog]

Hi Red_desert,

Here's a link.

Rick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauk_Trail

 

[mdog]

Here's another link, Red_Desert. Rick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_St._Joseph_(Niles,_Michigan)

 

[Red_desert]

Here's another link, Red_Desert. Rick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_St._Joseph_(Niles,_Michigan)

That's all very interesting. Just 3-4 miles east of here, along the river was a Potawatomi Indian village. During the war with the British, Col Jackson from Virginia came up here to drive them out. The Potawatomi went down to a field near Peru to meet with Tecumseh, which I'm thinking is a town that article (your 1st link) mentioned as being on the Sac trail. The Miami tribe who gave that land over to the Potawatomi, met together in the field near Peru, to discus the war.

Where the Potawatomi village was located in, it along with the area just to the south, later became known as Jackson township, a smaller section of Elkhart county, IN. I must be located where the connecting trail came through, that was traveled on to take the Sac trail. There is a high ridge runs toward where it should be, but turns away from the river leading to Sac trail. I can look out across the field from my back window, know the other side of the field must be a ridge they followed, maybe even on this side of it.

 

[mdog]

You will find a lot of interesting history that took place in your area. You might want to read about LaSalle and other early French explorers and missionaries. The French pushed west at a rapid pace to expand their fur trade. There was a lot of activity in your area during the 1600's and early 1700's. The Beaver Wars were a bloody era in our countries early history.

Here is an account from Father Hennipin that describes how a priest marked a trail at a portage.

We rejoined our party the next day, at the portage where Father Gabriel had made several crosses on the trees, that we might recognize it. We found there a number of buffalo horns and the carcasses of those animals, and some canoes that the Indians had made, of Buffalo skins, to cross the river with their load of meat.
This place is situated on the edge of a great plain, at the extremity of which on the western side is a village of Miamis, Mascoutens and Oiatinon gathered together.
The river Seignelay which flows to the Islinois Indians rises in a plain in the midst of much boggy land, over which it is not easy to walk. This river is only a league and a half distant from that of the Miamis, and thus we transported all our equipage and our canoes by a road which we marked for the benefit of those who might come after us, after leaving at the portage of the Miami river as well as at the fort which we had built at its mouth, letters to serve as a guide to those who were to come and join us by the bark to the number of twenty-five.

Here's the link. http://international.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?intldl/ascfr:@field(DOCID+@lit(gcfr0003_0051))

Rick

 

[Red_desert]

"leaving at the portage of the Miami river as well as at the fort which we had built at its mouth"

I am located at the site of the Miamis (Miami) river, the mouth is where it empties into the St Joseph river. There is a park, called "Island Park" at this location. A treasure hunter in southern Michigan, who has a club, once told me he found a copper culture artifact metal detecting in that city park. The park is that heart shape of land the river flows around, believed to look like the heart of an elk. Of course, as history tells us, the town is now called Elkhart, the Miamis river also then became Elkhart river.

 

[mdog]

Hi Red_Desert,

If you're interested in looking for carvings and trail markers in your area, you might want to read this link from ALT that was written by Rockman. It's the best article I've ever read about treasure hunting. http://ancientlosttreasures.yuku.com/topic/5950/How-to-Begin-a-Treasure-Search

I also would suggest that you go to your county engineer's office and ask to see your counties earliest survey notes. It will show you where to look for the old trails that went through your county. My counties survey notes have maps of each township showing the old indian trails and villages. I lucked out there.

Rick

 

[Red_desert]

Thanks Rick, I have old county maps from the 1800s, plus old state maps. Many of the country roads do seem to follow the old ones really close. I think they show the old Miamis land borders too. I recognized a Miamis chief name followed by Res. with lines for territorial borders. I always assumed they were old Indian lands. If so, the Miamis once occupied a lot of land around the city of Ft Wayne. There is a lost army payroll treasure legend, where an Indian battle took place.