113. Indian Point and the Peach Orchard
Prior to settlement by non-indigenous people, Indian Point was the site of Pottawatomie and Ottawa seasonal camps and agricultural plots. In 1886, a large tract was purchased by Captain R.C. Brittain for use as a peach orchard. One Native American couple that lived at the Point until 1911 were John Waugun (1850-1909) and his second wife Mary (Snay) Shashagquay Waugon (1848-1915). Mary’s obituary in the Commercial Record stated that “her latch string was always out at her home at Indian Point and that no one ever went away from her door hungry.” Mary was the widow of John Shashaguay, who is an ancestor of the Shashaguays still living in this area.
John Waugun had two sons — Benjamin (1881-1916) and Frank (1885-1907) — with his first wife Cecelia Pokagon, who was daughter of Simon Pokagon. Benjamin Waugon lived with his parents at Indian Point, attending Saugatuck schools. In 1895 he lived with his grandfather Simon Pokagon in Lee Township. An expert machinist, Benjamin Waugon worked for the Reo Automobile factory in Lansing at time of death. His obituary lists him as “the full-blooded grandson of Chief [Simon] Pokagon of the Pottawattamies, whose father Leopold ceded to the Government in 1833, over one million acres of land on which Chicago now stands. His death brings to a close the distinguished family of Pokagon, all of whom lived in the vicinity of Saugatuck and are buried here, with the exception of Chief Pokagon.”