In the extreme west end of the city there was formerly an extensive bluff, perhaps some fifteen or sixteen feet higher than any other point within the present limits of Fort Wayne, which covered originally some two squares. It was, indeed, an immense sand heap. When, and how long accumulating, the ages alone can determine. The sand is of a rather fine quality, and much of it has served well, doubtless, for mortar, in building and other purposes. It extended from Wayne street, fronting and within a few yards of the college, towards the river, a short distance below Berry street, and eastward perhaps about a square; somewhat eloping in its general character. Its highest point was at about the present terminus of Berry street. Over this knoll there extended but little vegetative life ; a few indifferent bushes here and there over it and about its margin, formed, perhaps, the principal part of its productive growth, as is usually the case with sandy points.
The Indians are said to have had some huts upon it, some years ago. In removing this great sand heap, as in digging at other points, within the present limits of Fort Wayne, the Indians having deposited their dead here and there, many bones and skulls were exhumed and removed. On one occasion, some workmen thus engaged, among many others, dug up a most remarkable skull — with high forehead and general formation extremely large — indicating a giant form to the possessor.*
* Mr. Daniel Kiser, some eighteen or twenty years ago, on the Cole farm, dug up the remains of an Indian woman, and also found in the grave a silver cup, a number of brooches, and a snuff box, on which was the portrait of Wm. Penn — the figure of an ordinary quill-pen being located near the portrait, as expressive of the name of this old Quaker philanthropist.
Mr. Charles M. Wells, also, some seventeen years ago, dug up a number of Indian hones — seemingly a man and woman. On the breast of the woman were a number of ear-drops, brooches and crosses. A beautiful piece of ribbon was also found near the ear-drops, &c., which seemed to have retained all its primitive elasticity and beauty, until touched, when it instantly crumbled to dust. A little son of N. P. Stockbridge, Esq., some months since, among a number of other Indian relics, found two little Indian bells. Many flints, tomahawks, (etc, have also been dug up at different times during the past few years. How long many of these bones and relics have thus been concealed in the earth, none can tell.
Copied from page 316-317 of the History of Fort Wayne, from the earliest known accounts of this point, to the present period. Embracing an extended view of the aboriginal tribes of the Northwest, including, more especially, the Miamies ... with a sketch of the life of General Anthony Wyane; including also a lengthy biography of ... pioneer settlers of Fort Wayne. Also an account of the manufacturing, mercantile, and railroad interests of Fort Wayne and vicinity, by Brice, Wallace A. Publication date 1868 on Archive.org.
Several unmarked Indian burial grounds have been found in Allen County. If you know of more locations or sources of information, please Contact Allen INGenWeb.
A newspaper article in 23 November 1899 Fort Wayne Daily News describes one location during excavation for Methodist College at the west end of West Wayne Street. Others were near the St. Joseph River such as old Miami town and at Cedarville.
ANOTHER INDIAN SKULL DUG UP IN LAWTON PARK LOT While spading his garden at 634 Lawton place, Friday, Dr. George W. Gillie dug up the skull of an old Indian, which makes the fourteenth to be uncovered on the same lot in the past few years. The skull dug, up by Dr. Gillie was crushed almost flat and beside it lay a copper kettle, knives and trinkets and a big bottle.
It is the general opinion that this particular plot of ground was at one time used as an Indian burying ground. All of the skulls found 80 far have been dug up on the rear of the lot, and no doubt there are many more in the center of it.
Remains uncovered west of downtown were ‘pioneer-era’ WANE Staff Reports, October 2, 2017, Updated: Oct 2, 2017, FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) Human bones found on a property just west of downtown Fort Wayne earlier this week were “pioneer-era” and have been reburied, NewsChannel 15 has learned.
This article from 2017; I don't know if they ever got an answer to what this was about:
"FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) Human bones found on a property just west of downtown Fort Wayne earlier this week were “pioneer-era” and have been reburied, NewsChannel 15 has learned.
Human remains were discovered on a West Washington Boulevard property Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.
Around 2:30 p.m. Monday, officials were called to a property in the 1400 block of West Washington Boulevard, part of the Swinney Homestead near the Swinney Park tennis courts and the historic Bishop Noll mansion. There, a subcontractor that was burying a power line unearthed the bones.
A pathologist called out confirmed that the bones were human. An officer with the Fort Wayne Police Department told NewsChannel 15 at the scene that the case was not criminal in nature, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources took over the investigation.
On Wednesday, the Allen County Coroner’s Office said that due to the condition of the bones, investigators determined they had been buried for an extended period of time. Marty Benson with the DNR said the bones were “pioneer-era.”
Benson said the plot of land actually is home to other graves. He wasn’t sure if the remains were pioneers or Native Americans.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation was notified about the discovery, as required by Indiana Code.
The coroner’s office said after a “discussion” between the utility subcontractor, the Office of Historical Preservation and the coroner’s office, the bones were reburied and the site was logged and marked as a burial site. It will now be protected according to state law.
The coroner’s office said the investigation was closed."
Current attitudes towards museum display of human remains is changing
The American Museum of Natural History still holds ~12,000 human remains in its collections, and the repatriation process has been slow -- or without clear legal guidance, in the case of the remains of enslaved people. UMass Amherst Public History Professor Sam Redman spoke to Zachary Small for the New York Times and Erin L. Thompson for Hyperallergic on the need to treat these remains, which have been put through experiments to bolster scientific racism, with respect.
Read Small's article: Facing Scrutiny, a Museum That Holds 12,000 Human Remains Changes Course The American Museum of Natural History said it would address its collecting of remains, which stretched into the 1940s and included practices now viewed as abusive and racist. [The New York Times article is behind a paywall]
[Article includes this paragraph: Most of the human remains still held in American museums are those of Native Americans (nearly 100,000, according to a recent ProPublica report). But the remains of thousands of individuals from outside the United States also sit in storage at institutions including Chicago’s Field Museum, the University of California, Berkeley’s Hearst Museum, and the University of Pennsylvania. The Smithsonian Institution, with the remains of 33,000 individuals, and Harvard University, with 22,000, hold the largest human remains collections in the United States. ]
History of Fort Wayne, from the earliest known accounts of this point, to the present period. Embracing an extended view of the aboriginal tribes of the Northwest, including, more especially, the Miamies ... with a sketch of the life of General Anthony Wyane; including also a lengthy biography of ... pioneer settlers of Fort Wayne. Also an account of the manufacturing, mercantile, and railroad interests of Fort Wayne and vicinity by Brice, Wallace A , Publication date 1868 on Archive.org
Just to the south of the fort, m what is now " Taber's Addition," was located the burial-ground of the garrison ; and where also were deposited others not immediately connected with the fort. Lieutenant Ostrander, mentioned in a former chapter, who had unthoughtedly fired upon a flock of birds passing over the fort, had been repremanded by Captain Eay, and because of his refusal to be tried by a court-martial, was confined in a small room in the garrison, where he subsequenily died, was among the number buried in this old place of interment. Another place of burial, where also a number of Indians were interred, extended along the northwest corner of Columbia and Clinton streets, and to the adjoining block. Many bones were, removed from this point some years ago, in digging cellars, and laying the foundations of buildings.
In 1846, in the progress of excavating for a foundation wall, immediately to the west of the northwest corner of Main and Calhoun streets, were dug up and " removed the remains of an Indian, who had long before that been buried, with a gun excellently mounted, some trinkets of silver, and a glass pint flask of whisky, which liquid was still preserved in at least as good a state as when buried. The hair was also in a fair state of preservation, though the skull was much decayed, as were the gun mountings carroded."
Another burial ground, used principally by the Indians, within the recollection of some of the early settlers here,extended from about where Messrs. Hill c& Orbison's warehouse stands, across the basin to the brewery, and beyond. And often had been seen, years ago, swinging from the bough of a tree, or in a hammock stretched between two trees, the infant of the Indian mother ; or a few little log enclosures, where the bodies of adults sat upright, with all their former apparel wrapped about them, and their trinkets, tomahawks, &c., by their side, could be seen at any time for many years, by the few pale faces visting or sojourning here.
The Indians are said to have had some huts upon it, some years ago. In removing this great sand heap, as in digging at other points, within the present limits of Fort Wayne, the Indians having deposited their dead here and there, many bones and skulls were exhumed and removed. On one occasion, some workmen thus engaged, among many others, dug up a most remarkable skull — with high forehead and general formation extremely large — indicating a giant form to the possessor.*
A December 8, 2022 discussion on the 1889 book Valley of the upper Maumee River, with historical account of Allen County and the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook mentions a land abstract referencing a house on St Joe Rd near Mayhew Rd. It said it was from the Ann Hackley estate and previously the Mississinawa (sp) burial grounds.
Buried Concerns City's treatment of Miamis' grave sites, remains traces century of evolving thought by Charlie Savage published August 16, 2020 in The Journal Gazette newspaper. Charlie Savage is a Fort Wayne native and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist discussing the 100s of Native Americans buried in the "Indian Burial Ground" located around the Little Turtle burial location now a small park surrounded by older homes built in the early 1900s. He has references to earlier newspaper articles that we hope to eventually add to this page and our Indian Burial Grounds page. This article was discussed on the ACGSI Facebook page August 16, 2020. Under Read More points to Some of the historical materials mentioned in this account can be viewed at Excerpts about a Miami burial ground in the Spy Run District from a 1903 Journal Gazette article and several other newspaper articles through 2016.
Prehistoric Allen County Preservationist Fritz Zimmerman documents the area’s ancient earthworks by Michael Summers published February 2, 2012 on Fort Wayne Reader.com.
Miami Chief Richardville burial location was discussed August 8, 2017 as part of Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Cathedral Square burial ground on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook. Local historian Craig Leonard commented that there was a marker in 1936 for his burial location on the southwest corner of the church cathedral grounds, though his marble grave marker is now at the Catholic Cemtery on Lake Avenue. There could be a 1936 newspaper article discussing this.
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF LATE PREHISTORIC VILLAGE AND SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS IN NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN INDIANA is a online 225 page report pdf by Andrew A. White, Dorothea McCullough, and Robert G. McCullough with contributions by Leslie L. Bush, Donald R. Cochran, Devin Fishel, Rexford C. Garniewicz, Mark Moore, and Andrew M. Schneider; Robert G. McCullough, Principal Investigator Reports of Investigations 216 June 2002; at IPFW Archaeological Survey Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne 2101 East Coliseum Blvd. Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805-1499 at StudyLib.net.
Human remains were discovered on a West Washington Boulevard property Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.
West Central Neighborhood Indian Burial Ground - A small undated map of an Indian Graveyard states this was