This research was done by me, Fritz Swanson. I am the co-founder of The Printing Stewards, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the metal type printing tradition. I am also co-founder of The Index, a quarterly letterpress poetry experience.

If you want to support the work I'm doing, you can subscribe to The Index or become a supporter of The Printing Stewards. Or both!

Cenius Henry Engle

As Simon Pokagon's publisher, C. H. Engle played an important role in the creation of Pokagon's famous birch bark books. In order to better understand how the books were physically made, the citations below have been assembled to establish a record of Engle's life and attitudes, as well as the physical printing plant he had access to at the Hartford Day Spring newspaper and printing operation in Hartford, Michigan.

I (Fritz Swanson) am assembling these notes with the hope of making a facsimilie of one of the Birch Bark Books that is faithful in all possible material respects, or at least to assist a future artisan in such an endevaor.

The Pokagon books C.H. Engle published.

A Provisional Theory

Author's Note: Other than the material cited on this page, I have by and large NOT read any scholarship about Pokagon's books. I've glanced at a few articles, but my process here has been to focus on this primary material associated with Engle for a couple of reasons. First, Engle was the publisher, and so he played a relevant role in the making of the object. Understand him alone is helpful when understanding how the book was made. This isn't an exclusive way to look at it, but it's how I want to start. Second, I don't like entering into scholarship until I have a pretty good grounding in the primary documents. My rough glance at Pokagon scholarship shows that there is a long history of strong biases one way or another. And this primary material is itself pretty biased. But. I want to have my own view before things get clouded up with other views. And third. I am not a scholar. I'm a printer. I'm comfortable with these sources and this time period, and not always tempermentally suited to reading scholarship in the way that it is written these days. I am certain when I get to the scholarship, it will add new information to what I have here. But I will get there when i get there.

As a writer, a publisher, and a printer myself, I understand that creating a book is collaborative. When we look at THE RED MAN'S REBUKE as an object, we can roughly assess it's creation by looking at those three paths of authorship. But, given that I've done all three of these tasks, I can see clearly that there is a lot of permeability between these roles.

The book says "By Simon Pokagon" and "C.H. Engle, Publisher". But the question is, who did which parts, exactly?

According to an article(1) in the Day Spring from 1967, Pokagon's birch books were printed in Hartford by his friend C.H. Engle. I think the verb "print" here means "directed to be printed" as there is no evidence that Engle ran his own printing operation. He did a lot of things, but not, it seems, that. So, from that sentence it is safe to say that Pokagon wrote the text, and Engle took that text and directed (and probably paid) a printer to print the text. It also seems likely that the Day Spring was the printer.

I would add to this the interesting article(2) from 1939 where we find that Engle's brother Washington had published two books of his own poetry (one in 1883, and another in 1893). Some large quantity of these books were then stored in the basement of Washington's pharmacy shop, and after his death a subsequent owner of the shop was forced to dispose of the books when a junk man came by looking for material to recycle into new paper. The article goes on to mention that when C.H. Engle died in 1915, his executor was ambivalent toward the book Queen of the Woods which Engle had brought to completion after Pokagon's death. And so, that executor had sold the printing plates to another junk man, for the price of scrap metal.

This shows at least two things: First, it shows that the Engles were interested in making books before they made books with Pokagon. But second, the fact that C.H. Engle had the printing plates (probably stereotype or electrotype plates made in Chicago at a typesetting house that specialized in their manufacture) shows that he did play some physical role in the printing process. He didn't just hand a manuscript to the printer and leave him to do all the work. Engle was materially involved in pre-press work, such as sending a manuscript to a typesetting house, having plates made from the set type, and then taking receipt of those plates personally. The plates were in his personal possession, so to print a new edition of the book, he would have had to bring them physically to the printer and direct the book to be made.

The business history of the Day Spring is also informative. According to the History of Van Buren County(3) entry on the Day Spring, the newspaper was underfunded and ill-equipped until it was purchased by H.F. Cochrane in 1898. In 1899 Cochrane established a stock company to raise capital to replace the meager porinting equipment in the shop, which at minimum included an "iron hand press" and probably a smaller Gordon-style jobbing press.

(The exact inventory of pre-1898 printing equipment at the Day Spring can only be inferred based on Cochrane's subsequent enthusiastic articles about the new equipment he would go on to buy, and in so doing refer to the previous inferior equipment that was being replaced. This 1910 article(4) is a good example.)

From this business history I might infer that Engle's publishing operation proceeded in two phases. The two initial birch bark books were hand-set and printed around the time that the Day Spring was under-equipped, and changing ownership from Charles C. Philips (owner from 1888-1893) to L.S. Johnson (1893-1898). Neither men owned the business for more than 5 years, so absent other information I'd infer that it was financially struggling.

But then, Queen of the Woods and subsequent Pokagon books were printed after Cochrane took over and began investing into the business. This might explain why Engle chose to have the typesetting for Queen done by a stereotyping house. One of the first things Cochrane seems to have bought was a drum cylinder newspaper press (which he would replace 12 years later with an even more efficient "two-revolution" press), and that printing capacity may have inspired Engle to see if Pokagon had a longer work he wanted to write.

Pokagon, sadly, died before he could see that longer work completed.

Looping back to the birch books, though, I think it is worth observing that Engle and Pokagon were coming to a printing shop in what seems to be financial and technical disarray.

Pokagon and Engle had been living in Hartford for decades and had been friends since 1855 when Engle arrived, building a log cabin on land next to Pokagon's. Engle specifically was a central figure in the white settler community. As a lawyer, he was the earliest judge in the area, and was know as the "marrying judge" because he had presided over a large percentage of the early weddings. He had also made quite a lot of money across many different business ventures, meaning he (and his brother Washington) had built most of the buildings in the village, including a large opera house. Pokagon, similarly, was a significant member in the indigenous community because of the political significance of his father if for no other reason, but also likely because his education and erudition would have made him an important liaison between white and indigenous communities.

Engle is frequently referred to as Pokagon's friend AND attorney, and he is also sometimes referred to as the attorney of the Pokagon Band as a group.

Engle's long introduction to the History of Van Buren County that is titled "Aboriginal History" demonstrates how much Engle wants to see himself as friendly with, and connected to, the indigenous community in the area. Engle was also what today we might call a "serial entrpreneur". In a 1905 edition(5) of the HDS, Engle reminisces about how he was the first "berry buyer" in the Hartford area. In that acount, he describes how he observed the Native community harvesting huckleberries and blackberries, and he realized then that there was an arbitrage opportunity where he could buy lots of berries cheaply from Natives, and then ship them to Chicago where he could sell them for an ample profit. In the 1850s he reports that he sold 12 bushels for $100, though because the berries were so fragile they would arrive badly smashed and the purchaser would receive "as many berries as flies."

In his "Aboriginal History"(6), Engle reports a very similar story from 1858 wherein he and a man named Jacob Corwin go in search of squab (which he descibes as "wild pigeon"). On their journey, they find "a large band of Indians" encamped near the birds. After some negotiation, Engle contracted with the Indians to purchase birds they gathered for $.01 per bird. He went on to sell them in Boston and New York for $1.50 per dozen (or $.12 per bird).

Both of these anecdotes lead me to believe that Pokagon and Engle could have easily organized the purchase of a large quanitity of birch bark, prepared by indigenous people for the press. Alongside the personal memoir in "Aboriginal History", Engle also specifically highlights the skill of local indigenous women in crafting birch bark baskets, so he was very familiar with the indigenous use of that material, and likely was comfortable buying and selling it.

It also seems likely that Engle and Pokagon saw the making and selling of these birch books at the fair in Chicago as in some way analogous to the berry and squab ventures from earlier in their history. I would think Engle very likely saw it this way. And the birch books, unlike the previous birds and berries, are not perishable. So they make for a very appealing commodity.

To sum up, here is what I think happened: Engle and Pokagon decided to make a book for the Chicago fair. They contracted with local indigenous people to gather and process birch bark so that it was suitable for printing. They then took the bark and the manuscript to the Day Spring, where the text was hand-set. The book was then printed page by page on a small Gordon-Style jobbing press (probably a Pearl #3). The pages were then drilled, and bound with ribbon. The edition was gathered, boxed, and sent along with Pokagon to the fair where the books were sold in conjunction with his speech. The venture was consistent with previous Engle ventures, except instead of birds and berries, he was selling books.

Why Pokagon participated in all this is outside my investigation for the moment (though I think that question is very interesting.)

But Engle's motivations seem pretty straightforward. Maybe he was doing Pokagon a favor. Maybe he wanted to help Simon out. But the whole venture is so consistent with previous money-making ventures that it seems likely he saw this primarily as business. And at the very least, he structured this venture along the same lines as those previous ones.

The Day Spring was not likely a significant factor in the decision making process. They likely did exactly as directed within the constraints of their equipment and skill.

An Addendum about Images and Engle's Chicago Connections (incomplete. Deprecated.) (Feb 20, 2021)

Notes on C.H. Engle and the Printing Facilities at his Disposal

Cenius Henry Engle: Find a Grave
Includes his stone, as well as a copy of his Obituary from the Hartford Day Spring

excerpts from his obituary:

"{...}

"Mr. Engle was nearly 83 years of age, having been born in New York on May 16, 1832. His death on March 30, 1915, made his span of life 82 years, 10 months and 14 days.

"Active in the early business and official life of the town, 'Squire Engle, as he was known, had been prominently identified with Hartford affairs for over half a century.

"He first came to Hartford from his native town, West Almond, Alleghany county, New York, in 1855. There was little semblance of a village at Hartford at that time, and he crossed the river to Stoughten's corners, which was then considered a rival town.

"Purchasing 160 acres of heavily timbered land in the northern part of the township he engaged in lumbering until 1857, when he returned to his native town in New York and was married to Miss Helen J. McGibney. They returned to Michigan, and it was then that Mr. Engle foresaw the development of a village at Hartford instead of Stoughten's Corners, and they took up their residence here.

{...}

"His early life was devoted to both school teaching and the practice of law. In the latter capacity he became attorney for the Pokagon Indians, and was their counselor and the steadfast friend of the redmen throughout his life. He was a close personal friend of the late Chief Simon Pokagon, and was the publisher of Pokagon's "Queen of the Woods" and other books which attracted wide attention."

{...}

The Hartford Day Spring

The Day Spring most likely purchased their hand-set type from BBS of Chicago.

A History of Van Buren County (1912)

Engle's Summer Life in Harbor Springs, Michigan

Cenius and his brother Washington spent their summers in Harbor Springs, Michigan, on the Little Traverse Bay. Their life can be glimpsed in Emmet County newspapers from the 1880s-1910s.

July 18, 1889 The Daily Resorter lists C.H. Engle as living in Bay View, Block 23, Lot 19.

The Bay View Association records (1875-1997). "Founded in 1875, the Bay View Association of the United Methodist Church is a private, voluntary membership institution. Bay View is home to more than 30 community-owned buildings, nearly 450 cottages and two inns situated on 337 acres in northwest Lower Michigan. Bay View was established as a Chautauqua-campground association of the Methodist Church at Bay View. The Association is now concerned with community affairs and the presentation of summer programs of religious and cultural content."

https://www.bayviewassociation.org/

Wikipedia Entry on Bay View

The image is low resolution, but I suspect the Engle's stayed on the north side of Block 23, to the western end of the block.

In the June 2, 1890 issue Engle is listed as living at the "Bay View Bazaar", and a number of people are staying there.

In July of 1891, Engle offers copy of the Lord's Prayer, printed on birch bark to visitors of his "Bazaar".

Other Publishing Information

Books Written and Published by Washington Engle, Brother to Cenius:

Dibble Publishing of Chicago

Before setting up his own publishing company, one of Dibble's previous occupations was as the exclusive sales agent for this book, which was initially sold by subscription in sections:

Notes on Birch as a Material

Artist Devan Kicknosway:

Scholarly Articles (to read)

Fair Material:
Birch Bark, Politics, and the Market in Simon Pokagon's "The Red Man's Rebuke" and "The Red Man's Greeting"
by Alex Corey