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NPI Form 10400-a CYTS AAPVsW NA 1024.001 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet E 2 East Bank Multiple Property Listing Section number Page St. Joseph County, Indiana followed, but ceased after the colonial era. Only a few European traders and the Potawatomi were left to enjoy the rich benefits of these valleys until the second decade of the nineteenth century when American settlers ventured into the northern country from the southern part of the state where early settlement had concentrated. The Miamis and the Potowatomies had title to most of the land along the northern tier, according to treaties of 1795 and later. When Indiana became a state in 1816, fur trading.companies had been operating in the South Bend area for nearly a decade, attracted by the river access. But in 1820, when Pierre Navarre built a trading post at the South Bend of the St. Joseph River, it was located on land still owned by the native peoples. Alexis Coquillard followed in 1823 and, in 1827 they were joined by Lathrop Taylor. The latter two purchased land from the government in 1831, when it became available after being acquired from the Potowatomi by various treaties. The'name South Bend was given to the town they platted, after its location on the St. Joseph River. Coquillard is generally credited as the founder of South Bend and much of the property in the East Bank area once belonged to him or his • forbears. Two factors helped make South Bend a leader in the development of northern Indiana -- water and land transportation. The geologic base of the area, laid down by recurring episodes of glacial ice and water, resulted in a rich mix of loam and sand, with generous gravel deposits. Much of the land was covered with marsh, but The St. Joseph River, noted for its bends and a substantial rise necessary for swift water, offered great potential. For native Americans and early traders alike, this river and its sister the Kankakee to the southwest, provided smooth travel to the Great Lakes as well as south to the mouth of the Mississippi, with only a short overland portage. ' With a bit of luck, South Bend also became a hub for the earliest nineteenth century highway. The first route planned for the Michigan Road, the projected north/south artery between Lake Michigan and the Wabash River would have bypassed the area.' As envisioned, it was to follow the straightest route between present day Michigan City and Logansport. However, because of the considerable amount of swampland which had to be traversed, this corridor was rejected . When they resurveyed the route in 1828, surveyors "discovered,$ the elevated land around the pronounced south bend of the river, declaring it to be "a Z Ibid., and Timothy Howard, A History of ST. Joseph County, Indiana, Vol I, Chicago/New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1907, p. 155. Howard, pp. 246 - 247.